Before and After
by FOBsession-DL-Freak
Summary: Jade West was transfered from another school, and placed into Hollywood Arts. She meets her best friends, and her greatest enemies, and the love of her life. Sadly, with a new school, comes new drama, with a little more of a twist. BADE; COMPLETE.
1. Before Hollywood Arts

**Author's Note: **

This is my first fanfiction that's in the Victorious genre. I don't watch the show much, because I don't catch it when it's on. I fell in love with Jade's character, and especially with her relationship with Beck. I think it's the perfect relationship. Therefore, I'm already sure you're aware this story will be a **Bade**, with a little bit of Bori, but not much. The star shouldn't always get the hot guy, lol. Anyway, here you go:

_**Before And After; **_

Her vision blurred as her hair rushed in front of her face. As the momentum of her feet kept the swing in constant motion, the world spun around her.

The playground was deserted. She had expected that, mostly because it was well past one in the morning. The cool, californian breeze blew with a gentle force, pushing the hair out of her face.

As her vision finally focused, she was greeted with a boy and a girl, one was on the swing next to her, and the other was making sand angels in front of her. The laughter slipped out of her lips before she could stop it.

"What are you laughing at?" the girl next to her asked, as she joined in with the giggles.

Jade's head went back in an attempt to calm down. A long sigh escaped her lips, making them tingle and twitch with almost every ounce of air that grazed them. Her hazel eyes hid themselves behind her make-up covered eyelids. Even through the dark purple eye shadow, she could see an outline of the full moon.

She opened her eyes and a smile spread along her face.

"Yeah, what the hell are you laughing at?" the man asked from the floor.

"Are you seriously laying in the sand, making snow angels, right now?" Jade asked, laughing all over again. It seems as though her friend on the swing just noticed he was in the sand. She started laughing along with Jade.

"Hell yeah I am. This sand is every sensation you could want to feel right now! How cold the sand is... how amazing every grain feels on my skin. It's like my cells and this sand are all making love on my skin." he said as he closed up into the fetal position, and then stretched out on the sand again.

"Yeah, Justin. E has that effect on people." her friend said.

"Lily. Don't you think I know that?" Justin said, propping himself up on his knees. He smiled at Jade. A slight pink started to show up on her cheeks. With all of her sensations being amplified, she swore, right there in this moment, that she and Justin were perfect for each other. She loved him, and he loved her. That should have been all there was for them to be together... too bad she was moving from Calabasas to Hollywood in a few days. She wouldn't be able to keep together a relationship that hadn't even started yet if she was that far away... there was no hope. If only

Jade let out a sigh, "we should probably get going. It's already past one, and we've got to live it up tonight."

"What makes tonight so much different than any other night?" Lily asked, kicking back and forth on the sand.

"Just because... I'm in the mood to go all out," Jade lied. Has she mentioned that her two best friends had no idea...? Well, now you're aware.

Jade wasn't one for sappy endings. She couldn't deal with the heartbreak she would feel watching Lily cry, and Justin getting in a bad mood. They had been close their entire freshman year, and the entire summer was spent partying, sleeping, and just hanging out together. They were the three amigos; basically they were family.

She hated hiding this from them, but it was too much for her to take. It was better this way... she hoped.

Lily jumped off of her swing, landing close to Justin. He stood up and brushed off his baggy shorts and straightened out his band tee. His hand ran through his shaggy head of hair, shaking it to get most of the sand out, then pushing it to the side of his face. She watched as his blue eyes found their way to her, scanning up her body and landing in a lock with her own.

Their gaze lingered together. Jade's heart started to beat faster. She was completely lost in those ocean blue, gorgeous, eyes... until Lily opened her mouth.

"Oh! Yeah! Lets just stay here and gaze into each other's eyes until we pass out! Oh wait... no, we have to go. Sorry." she said as she grabbed onto Jade's shirt, pulling her away from Justin.

He shook his head as he followed to two girls.

Lily let go of Jade's shirt. She started to walk and spin as she followed the cracked sidewalk.

Jade fell back and waited for Justin to catch up. He moved smoothly up beside her, only stumbling a little bit. She laughed at him as he put his arm around her. Her hand went up and laced her fingers between his.

"I love when Lily gets like this," Jade said, walking in step with Justin.

"Was that sarcasm? I can never tell with you. It's almost always sarcasm, but you have your moments," Justin said.

Jade smiled, "Oh, wouldn't you like to know?"

"I would... that's why I asked," Justin said.

The wind was brushing against their skin, coating their already tingly cells with an even greater sensation. It felt as though ice was coating their skin, melting off, and repeating the feeling all over again.

Jade could tell that it was hitting Lily harder than Justin and herself. Her best friend was jumping, and running, and spinning, like there wasn't anything else to live for but the feeling she was getting. If Jade remembered correctly, they had only taken two pills each, but Lily decided she needed to take four. She always did that when it came time to do some illegal activities.

Lily's blonde hair bounced behind her head, getting in her face every now and then. The black hair that was underneath her honey blonde was showing with every bounce. She was lucky that she wasn't wearing a skirt, because it would have been flowing with the wind up and off of her waist.

"Oh fuck," she heard Lily say as she stopped jumping. From looking at her expression, Jade could see that something was wrong. Her hands patted her chest, up and down, looking along the sidewalk.

As they got up to her, Justin asked, "What's wrong, Donkey Kong?"

Lily dropped to the floor, looking along the nearest cement crack, "my god damn stud fell out."

"Again? Really?" Jade said with a roll of her eyes. Her arms crossed over her chest.

Justin bent down to help Lily look. She glared at Jade and mimicked her, "Meh meh, meh meh meh."

That caused Jade to roll her eyes again. This happened at least once a drug trip. Jade would miss Lily when she left, but not how forgetful and slightly clumsy she could be at times. But regardless, she was her best friend and there was some love there.

"Eh... fuck it," Lily said as she stood up. She took the piercing out of her lip and threw it to the ground.

"That's... sanitarty," Justin stated getting off of the sidewalk. "What if some kid finds it?"

"Then they can get TB or something. Can we go?" Jade said as she kept on walking, Lily and Justin following close behind.

"Alright ladies, I think it's about time to do something new..." Justin said, digging into his front pocket. He was having a little bit of a struggle. Walking and searching pockets that were to deep could often result in this kind of trouble. He finally grabbed a little baggy out of his pocket. There seemed to be little strips of paper between the plastic lining.

"Oh shit..." Jade said with a devious look in her eye. Lily looked at Jade with excited eyes. She grabbed onto her shirt and started jumping up and down, yelling with a smile.

"Ready to drop this shit?" he asked, taking out all three strips. Both girls took one and instantly put the strip of paper on their tongue. Lily locked arms with Justin and Jade, forcing each one to be on the opposite side of her.

Jade and Justin locked eyes one last time before Lily took it upon herself to drag them down the side of the street...

Jade sighed. That memory was being replayed so many times in her head that she could have sworn it was a reality.

Sadly, it was the first day of school. She crossed her arms over her chest. She stared up at the school she was being forced to be at. Students walked by her, laughing and talking with their friends.

She dreaded it, but she slowly strutted up the front steps towards the sign: **Hollywood Arts.**

**AN: **I'm aware that it's not very Jade like right now, but I'll but more of her personality into the story while she's in school. Jade has a somewhat dark past, just so you have something to look forward to. (:

Review Pleaseeeeeeee! :D


	2. Before Beck

**AN:** The OC characters won't be actually in the scenes, playing a big part for a little while, but they will be mentioned to develop how I pictured Jade for this, just so you know. I do think that the chapters will be getting longer and longer as the story goes on. Hopefully I can get it all in and make it work out the way I want it to. (: enjoy!

Jade stood alone, scanning the students for anyone who was in the same situation as her. Alone.

The excited students all rushed past the new student. Most of them were all talking to their friends from previous years. Most of them looked at Jade, judging her. She told herself they were just jealous, and in her mind they were. Jade was prettier than any of the other kids at the school, with her distinct jaw line, gorgeous hazel eyes, and perfectly done make up. None of them could compare.

She started walking with her confident strut, up the front steps and into the main building, following the crowd of people who looked her age. She saw a girl, who was shorter than her, but looked to be her age. The thing that caught Jade's attention was the girl's hair. A bright, candy, apple red pony tail hung high on the girl's head.

Jade's eyebrow rose, and a small smile grazed her face. If anyone had a chance of being a friend of Jade's, it had to have been this girl.

She followed the girl though the crowd, keeping her eyes on her bright hair. It wasn't hard to keep track of her. Even though she was short, her pony tail moved swiftly through the gaps.

Jade was so into following the girl, she didn't notice when she was about to run into another person. She collided with him, throwing the papers and binder he held in his hands fall to the ground. Her own bag fell to the ground, and sadly some of the contents fell out, "Oh shit…"

She dropped to her knees, struggling to get everything back into her purse. She did a summary in her head. Lipgloss, salt water solution for her eyebrow piercing, eye shadow, a credit card, but where was her…

"Um… looking for these?" the man she collided with held a pack of Newports in his hand. Jade's eyes went wide, and snatched them quickly, looking towards the other students, making sure that no one else saw them. He also picked up her I.D from her last school off of the floor, and gave that to her as well. "You know, you probably shouldn't get into this habit."

"Sorry mom, you're just a little too late," Jade shot at him. She wasn't meaning for it to come out that harsh, but it's just how she was. Her comebacks didn't always come out at an opportune time, "Sorry… I didn't mean for it to come out that way."

"Don't worry about it, dude," he said. He could hear the smile in his voice. He added a little laugh along with it. For some reason, the laugh made Jade smile. She quickly shook it off. What was wrong with her today?

"Thanks," she mumbled, grabbing a few of his stray papers and handing them back to him.

"No prob. I'm sorry I ran into you. You know these first days of school here can be a little hectic." he said, trying to make a conversation start.

"I wouldn't know." Jade said, putting her bag back over her shoulder. She stood up and tried to scope out the red head.

"You wouldn't?"

"Nope. It's actually my first day here ever, didn't you see my I.D? You picked it up. I used to go to Tradewinds," she said. He stood up in front of her. She finally looked at him as he stood up in front of her. If this was a cartoon, her jaw would have been on the floor, her eyes would have been shooting out of their sockets, and her heart would have been pushing against her chest.

He was tan, with deep brown eyes. Her hazel eyes locked with his. She couldn't break away from his gaze, and it seemed like he couldn't do it either. Time stood still. She never had this instant feeling with someone, not even Justin…

She shook her head and looked down at her combat boots. Her metallic streaks falling in her face with her black hair.

"Sorry… I didn't mean to-…"

"It's fine. Don't worry about it." she said quietly. She took one last look at him before turning slowly away from him. Before she could start walking away, his hand was on her wrist and pulled back gently.

"Wait. You said it was your first year here."

_Smooth Casanova…_ Jade thought. She smirked and turned around. Having been one of the prettiest girls in Calabasas, she could tell someone was flirting from a mile away. His effort was futile. She couldn't just forget about all the feelings she had for Justin. Jade could be heartless some of the time, but she couldn't do that to her best friend. Even if they weren't around to find anything out.

Lily knew all about her feelings for Justin. She was all for it, but never understood why Jade wouldn't go out with him. Jade would make up every excuse in the book to hide why they wouldn't date officially. The topic would always come up when all three of them hung out at Justin's house. His parents were never home, so they got away with almost anything they possibly thought of. When Lily would be too distracted to pay attention, and even if she was paying attention, Jade and Justin would act as if they were dating. Cuddling, holding hands, flirting, and kissing. Everything you would expect two kids to do… maybe even a little more.

Justin respected Jade's decision to keep things simple. But still, some of the time Justin would get a little too close to Jade, and she wouldn't talk to him for a little bit. She couldn't hurt him. Out of all the people she's ever disappointed, upset, or hurt in her life. Justin couldn't be one of them. He was the first guy she had been so into, all she could do was think about him. She still thought about him after two months of being away from him. It didn't help that every day he would text her, begging for some answers. Jade couldn't bring herself to answer him.

"Indeed I did," Jade said, looking at him again.

He smiled at her, showing his perfect mouth of pearly whites, "then maybe you'd like a little company? I've been here for a year already, and I'm pretty sure I could help you find your way around."

Jade thought about it. She did need a little help with getting her bearings straight. On a whim, she decided to skip out on the new student orientation with all of the freshman. She had been invited, but she didn't want to sit in an auditorium with no one she knew. To be honest, she spent her day down in the shopping centers, searching for anyone to help her with a… need she was having. Luckily, she found someone who helped her out a bit.

"If you insist…." Jade hinted with a forced eye roll. Some of them were just her initial reaction, but others she added for effect or a flirting aspect, in this case. She couldn't get in trouble for flirting, right?

"I insist indeed," he said, "by the way, I'm Beck Oliver."

He stuck out his tan hand out, looking her in the eye.

"I'm Jade West," she said, pushing her hand out to meet his. To her surprise, he didn't shake her hand. He lifted up the back of her hand to his lips and gave it a soft kiss. Jade was glad she had cover up on her cheeks, it's main purpose now was to hide the red that would be gracing her face.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, lady Jade. Shall I escort you to yonder sign in table?" Beck said in a old british accent.

"I guess…?" Jade said with a nervous hint in her voice.

"Since you're new, I think that should be the first thing I tell you about. This is Hollywood Arts, where all of the greatest young talent in Hollywood ends up at one time or another. That causes most of the students to use their talent throughout the day."

Just as he said that, a girl spun in front of her, and a guy followed behind her. He grabbed her hand and stopped her from spinning. His hand went from her hand to her hip, pulling her close to his body. They moved in time with each other to a beat that was only playing in their head.

"As you just witnessed."

"So that's why you were talking in a british accent?" Jade asked, following the couple down the hallway with her eyes.

"Pretty much. I'm an acting major, but here you sort of have to do everything. They actually require anyone who is here for music to both sing and play a musical instrument. I can sing and play the guitar," He gave her his amazing smile again, as if him being good at everything was a selling point… Jade kind of got a kick out of it. She could tell he was into her already, and they had hardly even established if they were friends yet.

Beck tapped her shoulder, "This way."

He walked away from her, moving through the crowd of students that seemed to have lessened out a bit. She followed somewhat close behind, taking everything in. The lockers that were painted and styled to match the personality of their owners, and the ones that seemed to be newly painted over for new takers. Students were going to their new classrooms, people were freaking out about their new friends, and the lonely freshman struggling to get around all of the upperclassmen. In her head, she thanked Beck for not making her seem like a freshman all over again.

Although in her last school, she wasn't treated like a freshman, mainly because all of her friends were juniors and seniors. She was never really considered a anything but popular either. It took her a month to make her status known. She had to start from scratch here.

A group of girls walked by, talking and laughing. They all turned their gaze towards Beck. They all flirted in unison, "Hello Beck."

The way the sounded his name out made Jade cringe. She bit her bottom lip in frustration. These girls were total preps. They were clad in their shorter than short-shorts, and all too tight tube tops. With their fake blonde hair straight, and their oversized sunglasses in their face. This is what you get for moving to Hollywood, Jade. You better get used to it.

She thought about it. Her style wasn't going to be too easy to fit in here. She was wearing ripped-up skinny jeans, a cut at the collar band tee that always showed a strap of her bra, and combat boots. Not to mention her Gears of War messenger bag. She would constantly play Xbox with Justin and Lily when she was doing "homework" for hours in her room. She shook her head.

Jade couldn't think about that anymore. She probably wouldn't see them again. She had to face that fact.

"Hey ladies," Beck said politely with a wave. Wow… he didn't seem to melt over those girls like Jade had assumed he would. She raised an eyebrow at the back of his head.

Beck kept on walking through the crowd, and he actually skipped the line for almost fifteen people, bring himself and Jade to the front. To Jade's surprise, the girl with the bright red hair was sitting behind the desk.

"Hi Beck!" the girl said in an airy voice. From up close, her hair was almost blinding.

"Hey there, Cat. How goes it?" Beck said, reaching over the table to give her a hug. This was a different reaction to a girl than before. Jade made a note that they were friends in the back of her head. Just friends, she hoped.

"I'm great! Hey, did I ever tell you about how my dog tries to go swimming in my fish tank? He looked exactly like a fish!" the girl started laughing hysterically.

"She can't be serious…." Jade whispered to herself, but Beck overheard her.

"She really is," Beck whispered back, "Cat, this is Jade. She just got to H.A."

"Really? I just got here like five minutes ago! Wow!" Cat said getting up. She walked around the table and gave Jade a hug.

Jade didn't know if she should hug back or pull away. Instead of choosing one, she decided to give her an awkward pat on the back. Jade locked eyes with Beck, who was just smiling and trying to hold in a laugh. He probably knew this was going to happen. Cat still wasn't letting go.

"Okay, Cat. Give it up," Beck said, pulling Cat gently off of her. "Can we get our schedules' please?"

"Sure!" Cat sounded out her words just as the other girls did. Jade couldn't tell if it was her natural voice, or if she was doing it on purpose. That was going to take a little time to figure out. She shifted through a folder of every sophomore in the school. She quickly found Beck's schedule. "What's your last name, Jade?"

"West," she said simply.

"You live in the west, and your last name is West! How funny!" she started laughing again. She noticed she was the only one laughing, sighed, and started to search again. It took a minute, but she pulled it out successfully. "Here you go."

She looked the paper over: English Three Honors, Singing Two, Algebra Two, Study Hall, Acting Two, Creative Writing, Visual Technology.

Beck looked over her shoulder, "Hey. We've got a few classes together. Singing, acting, study hall, and english. Looks like you're going to have to see me after today."

She didn't want him to know that it actually felt comforting to have someone she knew in most of her classes, "you say that as if I'll actually be here."

"And that's implying…?" Beck trailed off.

"That I may be skipping a little bit in the future. It all depends on how much I hate my classes," Jade said, walking away from him. She really had no idea where she was going, but she acted like she did. Her eyes stayed on her schedule. Room 1-205. Now where the hell was that?

"I doubt you're going to hate them that much," Beck said from behind her.

"You obviously don't know what I'm capable of," she said as she turned to look at him with a smirk. She crossed her arms over her chest, tilting her head with her attitude.

"Well, it's sort of hard to hate any of the teachers here. They're either overly nice, or they're completely insane. You'll find that out fifth period today. Sikowitz is a whack job," Beck warned. He grabbed both of her shoulders, directing her to the hallway that held a staircase. He swiftly moved in front of her, leading her to the side of the hallway, lined with extravagant lockers. A hawaiian themed one, one with a piano as the front, and the list goes on and on.

Beck knelt down in front of a transparent locker, "this would be my locker."

"I would have never guessed," Jade said with a roll of her eyes, "why would you make it transparent?"

"Every locker in this building is designed by the personality of the owner. Mine is transparent so that everyone could see what's inside, because I have no secrets," Beck said, shoving his simple, black backpack into his locker.

"That's not true. Technically you have a bunch of secrets when it comes to me. I know nothing about you," Jade said, leaning against the lockers to the left. That's when she noticed a locker that was gray, right above his.

"You know, you need a locker," Beck said, looking up from his position. He made a motion with his head towards the locker above his. "You can make it any way you want it."

She could already see what she wanted on it. Black, and lots of it. She took the card off the front of the locker and slipped it into her pocket.

"Oh, Beck," they both heard someone call.

Beck looked down with a huff. Jade could tell whoever this person was, they had a way to get under Beck's skin. He stood up and turned towards the voice, "Hey Jess."

A girl with blonde, curly hair pranced up to him. If she would have bounced any harder with her steps, her bright pink skirt would have flown up, showing the world her underwear. Jade was surprised that her heels didn't break under her force. She bounded once more and launched herself into his arms. He let her gently get back on the floor. She pulled back from the embrace and leaned in.

Her lips landed on Beck's and Jade's attitude instantly changed.

AN: I'M SORRY IF THAT WAS TOO LONG. D: I didn't want to skip ahead too much. Hope you enjoyed it. (: Review your thoughts! Next up, a day of classes with Beck.


	3. Before Fifth Period

**AN: **For all of you to know, this is just a build up. I know there isn't very much drama going on right now, but I plan for quite a bit of it. I just have to build up Jade's character so it's not a cliché JADELOVESBECK kind of deal. **I'm also starting to change the summary for every chapter**, maybe that will grab more people.

* * *

><p><em>Her lips landed on Beck's, and Jade's attitude changed. <em>

Jade attacked her bottom lip with her teeth, making sure that she wouldn't say the things she had rushing through her head. The **confusion**: he_ was_ flirting, right? The **shock**: he didn't seem the type to go after preppy, ditzy, bimbos with fake tans. The **annoyance**: she could already tell that this girl was going to be her biggest enemy, regardless of if she was dating Beck or not. The** ego**: she was better than any one of the girls here, and this one was no exception.

The **pride**: Jade could do better than Beck, and he sure as hell wouldn't be able to handle her.

That's when she pushed all of the feelings that were starting to build up in her heart out of her chest. She didn't care where they went, as long as they weren't around her.

When Beck finally pushed the girl away from him, gently of course, she pouted at him and turned her attention to Jade. The girl scanned Jade up and down, giving her a once over. Her expression turned into one that only a true bitch could have mustered up. Jade should know, she had the look down to a science.

"Who's your friend?" the girl asked, getting into a defensive pose.

Before Beck could speak for her, "I'm Jade. And you are?"

"Jessica D'Vito," she said as if it was something to be impressed by, "I'm surprised you didn't already know."

"Why would I?"

"Oh you don't know? I'm only the greatest singer here," Jessica stated with a smile. She opened her hands and motioned to the school, "I guess you could call me a celebrity of the school. Isn't that right Beck?"

Her hand went to Beck's arm, rubbing it up and down. Jade could only imagine what they did behind closed doors, "Sure, Jess, but Jade's new. She's been here for like, twenty minutes. How could she have known about you already?"

That answer didn't seem to please his girlfriend too much. Jade was surprised. They had just met and he was already fending off his bitchy girlfriend for her.

The bell rang before Jess could make anything else come out of her mouth. She glared at Jade and kissed Beck one last time before going off to class.

"Sorry about her..." he said, closing his locker, "she's a little full of herself."

"I can see that," Jade said, watching Jessica walk away from her, swinging her hips back in forth in a taunting manner.

"Time for English. Looks like we've got a good teacher though. Hopefully this is going to be one of the ones that you like. You have her twice. She's also the Creative Writing teacher," Beck said as he started walking down the hallway that was thinning out by the second...

* * *

><p>"Hello class!" the teacher started off shouting.<p>

Jade looked at the lady confused. Why was she shouting if it was so early in the morning? Her slender frame couldn't handle coffee, by the looks of it. She was holding a steaming mug in her left hand, taking a sip every once in a while. The lady couldn't have been older than twenty five.

"I'm Ms. Hollinshead, but you can call me Ms. H because I've found that it's easier than saying my name," she explained, "today will be an easy day, or more of a get to know you day. I'll explain the rules and everything when we come to that point. Right now, I want you to all find someone you don't know, and pair up with them."

The class looked around waiting for anyone to make the first move.

"MOVE," Ms. H shouted and some students instantly jumped out of their seats. Jade watched as Beck casually stood up, and looked around the room. Three out of the six girls, minus Jade, in the class went straight for Beck. She could almost vomit from all of the hair twirling, gentle eyes, and flirty smiles.

Jade felt a tap on her shoulder.

She turned in her seat, sticking her legs out in the isle. There was a guy sitting behind her, his tightly braided hair pulled back into a pony tail with the sides shaved. He had a friendly smile on, "Wanna be partners?"

"Sure," she said in a noticeably apprehensive tone, "I'm Jade."

"I'm Andre, nice to meet cha," he said, sticking his hand out. She smiled a little and grabbed his hand with her own.

"Now that you've all found a partner, I want you to spread out. Most of you can go in the hallway, a couple of you can stay in here, just make sure no one distracts you from knowing your partner. I have a list of questions I am going to ask you involving your new friend. They're basic knowledge, but you still have no idea what they're going to specify to," the teacher said from behind her desk. She was typing away on her computer, giggling every now and then.

Jade and Andre sat still while everyone else, minus two other groups, made their way out of the room and into the quiet hallway. As Beck passed Jade, he gave Andre a pat on the back and said, "take care of the girl."

Andre stuck his hand out and touched knuckles with Beck, "will do, sir."

Beck laughed a little and exited the classroom. Jade tilted her head a little and squinted, "you know him?"

"Know him?" Andre huffed, "he's only one of my best friends. We've been hanging out since middle school. You remember those playground days."

Jade couldn't help but smile at the reference, "yeah, sure, lets go with that."

Andre laughed again, "Beck's already told me a little about you. That boy can text in class like no one else. On another term, he said it's your first day here, ever."

"Yeah. And?" Jade snapped. She almost felt offended that Beck would just tell everyone about her. Why did he need people to know? She could have blended in just fine by herself without his help. She didn't need a guardian.

"I just wanted to help you out a bit, if that's cool with you, snappy," Andre held the palms of his hands out to her, faking a surrender.

She looked around the room once nervously. She wasn't one to apologize, but she suddenly found herself to feel bad about snapping at him. He seemed like a nice guy, and from his attitude, someone she could get along with, "Sorry, Andre..."

"It's cool," he said with his smile getting back on his face, "can I see your schedule?"

Jade took the yellow piece of paper out of her pocket and handed it to him after a little un-crumpling.

"Ah. Well, obviously we've got English together, then we've got Math, Acting and Creative Writing together," Andre started off, "our schedule here is a little different from other schools. On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday we go to all of our arts classes, like Acting, Singing and in your case Creative Writing, or I think other schools call 'em electives? I don't know. And so on Tuesdays and Thursdays, you would go to your basic school classes."

"So I would only have three classes on a Tuesday? Wouldn't that make my day really short?" Jade asked. That would have been perfect, like a senior privilege all of her friends had at her old school.

"Oh... naw. You go to your fifth hour every day. It's sort of your homeroom," he said with a sigh, "and based on fifth period, you've got Acting every day, which means that your lunch is second lunch. Anyone who you have in Acting will also be in your lunch. So that means we can chill at lunch."

"That was actually a little more helpful than what the teachers have been telling me," Jade said, nodding to Ms. H. She was busy typing away on her computer, probably chatting on awkward dating site, or looking up funny grammar mistakes.

Jade thought back to this morning. She remembered Beck saying that she had the same Acting class as he did. A part of her heart decided to speed up, involuntarily of course. What was wrong with her today? This kid could not be affecting her this much. It's been a few hours and she was already thinking about him more than she should be.

There was no way she could have feelings for Beck. Not now. Not ever. Justin would still be the only man on her mind... she owed him that much.

"So, let me get to know Jade," Andre said with a smooth tone that made Jade feel comfortable. She could tell already, these two could be friends. He was nice, seemed to have a good sense of humor, and had some close friend potential. So they started talking...

* * *

><p>The final bell signaled the start of fifth period for some, and for others it was the start of lunch. Andre and Jade sat next to each other. Just as she thought, they were becoming better friends by the second. He understood her sarcastic sense of humor, and she appreciated his odd stories of his grandmother and his entire family. They found out they had a bit in common, from their go to music and to their favorite plays.<p>

Everyone in the class took a seat, grouping friends together with each other. Beck sat next to Jade and gave her a head nod. She rolled her eyes at him, crossing her arms across her chest, slouching in her plastic chair.

The red head, Cat, sat in front of Andre. She turned around and waved, her eyes where in a dazed state. Jade wondered if she was on any type of narcotic, and if so, what was it so Jade could get some.

An awkward, lanky, boy sat down next to Cat. His brown hair curled every which way on his head, making himself his own jew-fro. He turned to the side and Jade saw a puppet sticking off of his right hand. The thing looked creepier than any other ventriloquist doll she's ever seen, even in the goosebumps novel.

The boy's puppet moved it's head as if it were checking her out, "hey there, sweet thang."

Jade's face held confusion and disgusted features, "Ew..."

"Rex, leave the poor girl alone," Andre said, pushing the puppet's head away. "That's Rex, and Robbie is his... controller?" He looked to Beck for support, but all he did was shrug back.

"It's nice to meet you," Robbie said with a wave.

"Yeah, we needed some new options around here," Rex said. Cat made a squeak and her jaw dropped.

"He's only playing, Cat," Robbie said, and scolded Rex right after.

The door to the room slammed shut as a man who was dressed as a hobo walked in, making an annoying slurping sound. Jade's face went back to disgusted. The man was scruffy, slightly smelly, didn't match anything he was wearing, and he didn't have any shoes on! Did he even know what probably crawled across this floor at night?

"Good morning, good morning, good morning," he said, sticking the straw to a coconut into his mouth. He made the slurping sound all over again. His attention fell on Jade, "who are you?"

Beck and Andre both leaned over to her and whispered, "stand up."

She hesitantly did, pushing her messenger bag off her lap and onto the floor, "I'm Jade West."

"Jade West? I've never had you in a class before. How could you be in Acting Two if I haven't had you in Acting One along with the rest of these hooligans?" he said, snapping his fingers at her, "schedule, schedule, schedule."

"Hooligans? I ain't no hooligan," Andre said, obviously offended.

Jade took out the piece of paper again, handing it to the teacher as a wad of paper. He unfolded it and looked straight at the fifth period slot. He looked at the paper and then back at Jade. Huffing, he threw the paper towards her, but the wind caused it to land on Rex's face, "Well then. You're already behind on your class, Ms. West."

"How? It's the first day?"

"Yes, but I've had all this class before this year, so they already know of the first play we're going to be preforming here. A new musical that was just developed and published a month ago. A movie turned into a play. A classic movie wit-"

"Just tell her what the play is, Sikowitz!" Beck said.

"Well... someone's a little bossy today," he said, "it's The Wedding Singer. And the auditions are on Friday, so I suggest you get a move on a song to try out for. I'll give you a copy of the script, and this is also a part of your grade. You must audition, you must help to make this show happen, or else you'll fail."

He let out a demented laugh and walked up to the front of the stage, grabbing another coconut to sip on.

A musical...? Didn't Jess say something about being the best singer in Hollywood Arts? There would be no way the girl would pass up an audition to be the leading role...

This gave Jade an idea.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> Yes, the Wedding Singer was turned into a musical. My school just did it, and I was sort of inspired by some of the songs. They would work great in here. This is going to start off all of the drama. I hope you guys love it. (:

VVV REVIEWPLEASE VVV


	4. Before Auditions

**AN:** THE_ ITALICS_ ARE SINGING, JUST SO YOU KNOW.

* * *

><p>"No Sinjin. For the last time, you <strong>can't<strong> play a girl's part, and last time I checked the part of the Grandmother was played by a **girl**," Sikowitz yelled from his desk in the audience.

"I think I could do a better job than half of these ladies, if I do say so myself," Sinjin said, pointing at the other girls on stage and giving them the stink eye. "According to the Hollywood Arts rule book, section fifty seven, paragraph three, line twelve, states that I'm allowed to audition for any part I want to."

Sikowitz hit himself in the head with his coconut, "Fine, Sinjin. What will you be gracing the stage with today?"

"The actual song that Grandma sings with George, Move That Thang. I've asked Robbie to help me out with this," Sinjin said, running off stage. There was a bang, a crash, and someone groaning in pain. Sinjin pulled Robbie out of the wing. He was holding his stomach in pain, stumbling to stand next to Sinjin.

"My spleen…." Robbie groaned again. He slowly regained his composure.

"Robbie, are you going out for the part of George?" the teacher asked, scribbling something down on his clipboard with an oversized pencil.

"Yes, sir," Robbie said, pulling on an awkward wig that looked like something Billy Idol would have worn.

"Um… that's disturbing. ACTION!"

The lights went down. A spotlight on Robbie and Sinjin.

"Mrs. Hart, um, it seems we've lost half our band for the party. This is awkwardddddd," Robbie said.

"George, I think I can come up with something. Gimme a beat!" Sinjin said in his most convincing grandmother voice he could muster. To everyone's surprise, he was doing better than the girls who had tried out before him. He continued:

"_Well, first things first, my name is Rose, I can bust fly rhymes just like the pros, I ain't got time for tea and scones; Forget rockin' chairs, I rock microphones! The roof, the roof, the roof might have snow, but that don't mean there ain't a fire burning down below._"

Robbie went up to Sinjin, who was dancing as best he could, gyrating all over the stage to the beat of the music. He was actually dancing like an old lady.

Robbie actually started singing, while Sinjin was dancing around him, _"Cause it's never too late."_

_"All my homies say?_" Sinjin interjected while shooting up gang signs.

_"Never too late, yawl."_

_"All the ladies say?"_

_"Never too late."_

_"Everybody say!"_

They both sang together, _"Never too late to move that thang"_

Robbie took over the rapping rhythm, dancing like he had something stuck in his pants, "_Will you stand like a fool, just blinkin' and shrugging'? Scared to say the truth cause you might start bugging'?"_

_"Not the "R" to the "O" to the "S" to the "E"! Do you feel me, boo?"_

Robbie paused for his part, "Indubitably. _When fear says our dreams might not fulfill us, just reply…"_

_"Whachu talkin' 'bout, Willis?_"

_"So you're saying to take each snag in stride, and just pass the dutchie on the left hand side?"_

_"Keep it cool and you won't start illin'."_

_"Oh, I know you're not illin',"_

_"I'm chillin' like a villain_!"

"Word to your grandmother!" They both struck a pose, back to back with their arms crossed as the music stopped.

The entire body of the audience stood up and applauded. Even Sikowitz stood up and clapped politely. He waited a minute for everyone to quiet down again, "That was impressive…. You may have sealed that role. Not just you, Sinjin, but Robbie too. Although it would be funny if Robbie played the character Robbie. Hahahahah! No? Oh well. Thank you very much gentlemen."

The crowd clapped again as they got off the stage.

"Next up, Jade West auditioning," Sikowitz shouted through a mega phone.

"Who the hell gave that man a mega phone!" Andre whispered to her, attempting to calm her down one last time.

Jade took a deep breath, giving one last look to Andre. He was sitting next to her in the audience, telling her reassuring things, making sure she stayed confident. He didn't really know why this meant so much to her, but he had a feeling it had something to do with his best friend's egotistical girlfriend. Right now, he couldn't tell if Jade was jealous, or if she was just doing it because Jess pushed her the wrong way on her first day here. Either way, she already had a grudge.

"Ms. West, treat this just as you would a professional audition. State your name, age, blah blah blah," he stated as she walked up to the middle of the stage.

"Hello. I'm Jade West, I'm fifteen years old and I will be singing Elphaba's part to The Wizard and I, from the hit broadway musical, Wicked," she said, giving a knowing look to Beck and his girlfriend. She waved at her with mock friendship. Jade had an ego, but the ego was there for a reason. She knew she was an amazing singer, and not many people could live up to the high F's in the songs Elphaba sings.

The music just started as she got into character. She closed her eyes, then opened them, locking eyes with Sikowitz, "Did that really just happen? Have I actually understood? This weird quirk I've tried to suppress and hide, is a talent… _that could help me meet the Wizard, if I make good, so I'll make good._"

She started moving around the stage, explaining the story of the song to the audience, capturing Elphaba in her own unique way, "_When I meet the Wizard, once I prove my worth, and then I meet the Wizard, What I've waited for since… since birth! And with all his Wizard wisdom, by my looks, he won't be blinded. Do you think the Wizard is dumb? Or, like Munchkins, so small-minded?No! He'll say to me, 'I see who you truly are - A girl on whom I can rely!' And that's how we'll begin, The Wizard and I._"

She was hitting every note perfectly, getting the audience to hang on every word, "_And I'll stand there with the Wizard, feeling things I've never felt. And though I'd never show it, I'll be so happy I could melt," she winked at Andre and he laughed, "And so it will be for the rest of my life, and I'll want nothing else 'till I die! Held in such high esteem, when people see me they will scream, for half of Oz's favorite team… The Wizard, and I!"_

Her eyes fell on Beck and his stunned expression. In his entire four years at a school of the arts, he has never seen someone be so convincing as a character. Not to mention her voice. It gave him goosebumps the entire time she was singing. He felt a little guilty, his girlfriend was a good singer, but Jade was amazing. Jessica couldn't compare.

Sikowitz just stayed in his seat, staring at Jade.

She was just standing there. In the middle of the stage. With the spotlight blaring down on her. "_Well?_"

"I'm going to ask you to come see me after the auditions in the classroom," he said, diverting his eyes down to his paper.

"That's it?" she asked with a glare.

"That's it for now. If I asked you to meet me in the classroom, obviously there's going to be more, smarty pants. Next up: Jessica, grace us with your ego!" he said.

Jade turned on her heel and stormed off stage. She walked down the steps and crossed her arms as Jessica walked up next to her.

Jessica gave her a smirk, "that's what he tells people who just aren't good enough," The girl had enough balls to pat Jade on the back.

Luckily, when Jade turned around with her fist raised, Andre was there to hall her away before she struck, "C'mon Jade. Lets go hang out side the classroom before your fist gets sucked into all of the gunk that's covering her face."

Jessica smiled at them before starting off her audition, "I'm Jessica D'Vito, I will be auditioning for the role of Julia…."

* * *

><p>"Well, Ms. West, you can come in now," Mr. Sikowitz told her as he walked by where she was sitting with Andre. She followed him into the room, giving one last apprehensive look to Andre. She was already comfortable with him, and that wasn't very Jade like. It would take her months to actually start to trust someone, yet she was confiding in Andre within a few days.<p>

He shot her a thumbs up before she disappeared into the room with Sikowitz.

"I need to talk to you," Sikowitz started off by saying.

"Really?" she said with sarcasm dripping off her tongue, "I would have never guessed."

"See. That right there is what I'm talking about. I've noticed how you act the past few days, and I've realized that you're not a very sensitive, girly, happy type. You're more… how do I say this… bitchy type, is what I think I'm going for," Jade was surprised. She didn't really expect to hear that come out of his mouth, "you're brutal, blunt, and just a little too far from the character I was going to be giving you."

"Sir, in all due respect, if you didn't just see me on stage, I can mold to any character you give to me. I'm a diverse, serious actress. Whatever part you give me, I'll put everything I have into it. You give me direction, and I'll give you what you want, if you give me the chance, of course," Jade explained. It was true. Jade wasn't the type of actress you can type cast. She can play what you gave her, from Cassie in A Chorus Line to The Lead Player in Pippin.

"You put up quite a convincing argument, Jade… but I do have faith in you. So there's just one more thing," he said, trying to hide a smile that Jade could see below his mustache, "to play the part of Julia, you have to wear a wig... A blonde wig."

Although her mind told her she couldn't pull off the blonde look, Jade's lips pulled up into a smile, "Thank you, Mr. Sikowitz. I'll make you proud."

* * *

><p>The line to look at the casting sheet was at least twenty people long. Each person was either happy about their part, or they were morbidly disappointed. Jade even saw a girl crying because she didn't get the part of Holly, which sort of mystified her. Why would you want to play the sluttiest girl in the show? Oh well. Someone has to have something to strive to.<p>

Andre nudged Jade in the side, grabbing her attention. He nodded to the line where Beck and his girlfriend were standing, hand in hand. Beck didn't seem to excited to be there. Everyone already knew he was going to get the lead part as Robbie, people who didn't get the part were already congratulating him as they walked by. Andre got some, too. He was set to play Sammy, Robbie's best friend. Not Robbie with the puppet, Robbie Hart from the play... obviously.

Jade smirked when Jessica jumped up to the sheet with a smile on her face. The smile dropped and a scream escaped her lips. Jade actually had to cover her ear because it started to ring with pain. Jessica turned to Beck in utter distraught, "I'm not Julia!"

"Calm down, I'm sure you still got another part," Beck looked for her. She was too stunned to even move. She kept her eyes locked on the wall across from her that was covered in advertisements for the show, "See, you got Linda's part. That's still a lead role."

"Still a lead role… still a _lead role_? It's not a **lead role,** if it's not **the** lead role. God, Beck! Why are you so stupid sometimes?" She yelled at him, then her attention turned to Jade, "You better enjoy this while you can, newbie. It's just beginner's luck."

Jessica stormed off and Beck stayed behind. He walked up to Jade, who gave him a smirk, "Your girlfriend's not too happy."

"I wouldn't be either. This is the first time she hasn't gotten the lead in something, and she's gotten used to it. Oh well. You're a better singer, and the way you preformed just now… it was amazing. I'm looking forward to our duets," Beck said with his smile. The smile that still made her confused, and not necessarily in the good way. "We should probably start working on them soon, actually. Rehearsals start next week, so would you be okay with hanging out this weekend and maybe, testing out our voices together?"

Andre raised an eye at Beck, and of course he caught it in the corner of his eye. He looked Andre in the eye, hinting him that they would talk later while Jade mulled over her decision.

"I guess that would work…." Jade decided. Something in her told her that maybe it wasn't the greatest thing to do, but it was for the good of the show. If they didn't have the right chemistry, their parts wouldn't match and the entire play would be brought down by every duet.

"Cools, then can I text you later to work out the details?" Beck said, digging in his skinny jean pocket, fishing around for his phone.

"BECK!" a girl yelled from down the hallway.

"And that's my girlfriend," Beck said, closing his eyes as the screech echoed down the hallway, "I'll get your number from Andre later, and once again, congratulations."

Andre and Beck shared a fist bump, and Jade just waved.

"That's some interesting comments you got back from him…." Andre noted. "I haven't seen him be that flattering since he started going out with Jessica. You may have my boy hooked, girl."

"Hooked? Hardly. One, he's got a girlfriend. Two, I'm not going fishing right now," Jade said adjusting her messenger bag on her shoulder. She smiled at Andre and he gave her a hearty laugh.

"That's actually a pretty good one. Say it with a sassy girl voice," he pleaded.

"No!" She said. Andre had the weirdest requests some of the time.

"Woah!" a girl said, grabbing both Jade and Andre's attention. They turned back to the casting sheet to be greeted with Cat's excited face, "I got the part of Holly!"

"This will be _fun_," Jade said turning away from Cat and walking down the hallway by herself. She couldn't help but smile. Beck already wanted to hang out with her over the weekend. "D'Vito, eat your heart out..."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>Hopefully this is sparking people's interest by now. I might even have another slightly O.C Character to play into this, too, but I haven't decided if he's going to fit in very well. It's all up to how this weekend Bade turns out. Stay tuned to find out!

VVV **MOTIVATE ME** AND REVIEW! VVV


	5. Before Saturday

Her keys hit the table and her backpack fell off her shoulder and landed with a noticeable thud on the ground, "Mom, I'm home."

She heard the familiar pattern of Molly's paws hitting the hardwood floor of the kitchen, turning into the hallway. Her slobbery mouth drooling and panting as she ran towards Jade. She braced herself before the eight year old, German Shepard jumped up with her front paws landing on Jade's belly.

She patted the dog and told her down, laughing a little bit. Jade scratched the dog behind her left ear and Molly instantly calmed down. She kissed the top of the dog's head and started walking up the hallway and into the kitchen, and Molly followed right beside her.

"Hey Mom," she said. Her mother was fiddling around the kitchen with a piece of paper in her hand, opening and closing drawers in frustration. Jade watched as she went up to the Island that stood in the middle of her huge kitchen. No wonder her mother still had trouble finding things in here. Jade took a seat on one of the bar stools, "Mommy?"

Her mother let out a startled scream and turned around with a hand over her heart, "Jaden Leigh, you just scared the shit out of me."

"I"m sorry," she said with a small smile. The dog laid down on the ground next to Jade's feet. "Is dad not coming home tonight?"

"He had to stay late because his general manager flaked, yet again," her mother said with annoyance. She opened another cabinet, only to slam it shut again in frustration. "You would think that I would know where your father put everything in this stupid kitchen by now, but no. He has to leave me things to make for dinner that are completely different from the last one, so I still know where nothing is."

"That's the life of being married to a chef," Jade said. Her father was quite a successful restauranteur, that's what really made the decision to move from Calabasas to Hollywood a reality. There had been a few offers from different people who were looking to sell their restaurants.

Her father had decided to take on two different restaurants in the process, one open from eight in the morning to four in the afternoon, and the other was opened from five until two in the morning. The one open at night was about a half an hour away from the other, making it almost impossible for Jade to ever see her dad unless it was on a weekend, when the early restaurant wasn't open. Luckily for her, it was Friday.

"Your dad left instructions on how to make this weird tuna thing," her mom said going to the fridge. She opened it and screamed. Jade jumped out of her seat and yelled too, causing the dog to bark and growl. It was quite the chain reaction.

"What the hell?" Jade yelled at her mom.

She had a disgusted look on her face as she reached into the fridge hesitantly. She pulled out an entire, fully together tuna fish. Jade could smell it from where she was sitting. Molly walked up to the fish and started sniffing. Some of the fish slime dropped down to the floor, and the dog almost licked it up, but Jade's mother yelled 'no' before she could get away with it.

"I'll find the take out menus," Jade stated, going into the drawer behind her….

* * *

><p>Her stomach was full of house fried rice and crab Rangoon by the time the clock struck eleven. All in all, it was a nice night spent with her mother. They watched two different movies and talked about how she got the part in the play, about her day, and about her mother's new art exhibit in the local museum. Her mom's art work was world renown, being sold in all of the fancy European art stores. That's how her mom could afford not to have an actual job like her dad.<p>

She was thankful for her mother having that talent though, it made her well rounded in the long run. The natural ability to turn whatever she had in her head go onto paper in art, and she could make anything she wanted to in the kitchen from all of the lessons her father had forced her to take.

Molly was following her up the stairs, bound for bound. Jade could over hear her mother talking to someone on the phone, "But I don't understand why you're so lenient with your employees? They wouldn't miss this much work if you were more strict… no, I'm not talking about that right now. I just… I just miss having you home. Of course I'm proud of you! You should know this by now."

Jade ignored the rest of the conversation. If she's heard them fight once, she's heard them fight a million times. They weren't ones to argue all the time, but when they had fights,_ they had fights_.

She walked the rest of the way down the hall to her room in the corner on the right. The door covered with posters, drawings, and things her friends had given her over the years. Thank God she had the room all the way at the end. Some of the pictures Lily had made her were narcotic related. She couldn't count how many times she had gotten a characterized mushroom handed to her in the middle of class. She still had almost all of them in a box under her bed.

With her backpack over her shoulder, she entered her humble abode, avoiding the clutter that crowded the floor. She threw the messenger bag onto the queen-sized bed, along with her cellphone. Then she reached up to her fan, clicked the shortest string twice, and the longer one once, flicking on the light.

Jade's room was painted black and red, with her name painted on the black wall that her bed was pressed up against. It was painted in purple, sliver and red, with a metallic outline surrounding it. She went over to her dresser, taking off her silver rings and her zipper style earrings and putting them all in her jewelry box.

She stripped down her clothes, piece by piece, replacing them with her favorite black sophie shorts and a black tank top. She threw her dirty clothes into a cardboard box that was over by her closet.

She grabbed her remote and took a seat on her bed. Before she could even think about laying down, her body decided to collapse and attack the bed with her weight. Her silky, black, pillow top comforter felt so cool under her, all she wanted to do was sleep. Her fingers seemed to have a mind of their own, and put the T.V on the

That's when she heard the familiar sound of her phone getting a text message, followed by a vibration that coursed through her bed. A part of her thought that she should just ignore it. That was before she remembered Beck.

Jade searched frantically over her bed, searching for where the vibration came from. She found it on top of her pillow, next to her nightstand. She slid her finger across the bottom of the screen, opening the text message.

It was from Beck, _I was thinking we could try to get some things done tomorrow, around mid afternoon, does that work for you?_

She thought about that for a minute. The thought of hanging out with him made her happy, but she wasn't sure if it was smart. If she was trying to avoid making her feelings stronger for the man, the last thing she needed to do was spend more time with him.

_Sure. That'd work for me. What time specifically? _Jade wrote back.

She put her phone down and sat up, finding an all new amount of energy to keep herself awake. She flipped through channel after channel, trying to find something to watch to keep her mind off of the time it was taking for him to text back. He was probably on the phone with his bimbo.

Jade huffed. That's actually exactly what she assumed he was doing right now. It was late on a Friday night, why wouldn't he be wishing his girlfriend a good nights sleep?

She needed to start remembering some of her lines. Since this was a school of the arts, she had to step her game up to keep the part before they found someone else. The songs would be easier to learn than her actual lines. She really needed Beck to get the full effect of the character.

Her phone went off as she pulled her script out.

_I was thinking we could start around two or three? It's the earliest I can get over there, and when it comes to leaving… well, I'll leave whenever you kick me out, lol. _Beck wrote back.

She smiled at the second sentence. _Sounds good, I'll see you then._

His reply was almost instant, which made her have a little more hope that he wasn't talking to his girlfriend. _I can't wait. (:_

She didn't know what to say back to him_. _Maybe this was exactly what she needed to do to keep him wanting more from her. Torturing a boy was something she really missed. The way she knew how to keep them guessing, wanting more, and teasing them, especially when she didn't want to actually be with them.

And she_ didn't_ want to be with Beck... as far as she knew. He was just an attractive guy she happened to be flattered by. That was it. Besides, he had a girlfriend who he actually liked to be with, as weird as it was.

Her phone went off again. She read his name and couldn't help but smirk, _so... How was your night?_

She started to text back a very vague answer, knowing all too well how to play this game. She told him about the fish and the movie she watched with her mother. He kept asking questions and she kept answering until it was almost three o'clock in the morning. Her vision was getting blurry and she was actually quite tired and hardly paying attention.

Sadly, she wasn't coherent enough to realize who the next text was from... and it wasn't Beck.

_Goodnight, Jade. I love you..._

_You... you love me? _Jade texted back frantically. She reread the text over and over again. That's when she realized that she wasn't texting Beck, but she had accidentally replied to Justin instead. She shut off her phone in a panic. How could she have been so stupid? She was supposed to be dead to him, to never speak to him again. Why did this have to happen now, or all times?

She was finally focused on other things. Her major part in the play, her day that was going to be happening in just a few hours, and how she was actually happy being in the new town. Of course, one mistake can remind her just how much she missed about her old town.

Her head hit the pillow with exhaustion, and she was out like a light...

* * *

><p>Molly's barking shot Jade out of her quiet and peaceful slumber. The doorbell rang, and someone knocked shortly after.<p>

"Fuck..." Jade grumbled, picking herself out of bed with every skin cell pulling her back towards the soft, silky, comfort of her messy bed.

Her door was thrown open with force as she exited out into the hallway. The door to her parent's room was open, and it was in perfect condition, but lacking two important aspects: her parents. She assumed they had left her a note somewhere in the house, but another light knock on the door made her change her plans of finding it.

The steps hardly touched her feet as she bounded down them with a slight hop in her step. She wound up at the door within seconds of getting off of them. Molly was still barking protectively, and Jade shushed her, pushing the dog away from the crack in the door.

Jade opened it only to be blinded by the evil sun reflecting off her front porch and sidewalk. Her eyes started to water as they adjusted to how much brighter it was outside than in her cool house.

"Were you still sleeping?" a young man asked with humor.

She knew that voice, "Beck? What're you doing here so early?"

"Early? Have you looked at a clock today? It's already three in the afternoon."

Jade's eyes shot open as she leaned back into her house. Sure enough, the digital clock on the wall in her living room read three fifteen in the P.M, "Shit... I'm sorry. I guess I forgot to plug my phone in or something."

"It's cool. It's not like I was waiting very long. I only knocked three times," he said, giving her a reassuring smile.

She moved by and let the man inside, holding Molly a little bit to prevent the jumping, "Sorry about her. She jumps... kind of a lot."

Beck surprised her by kneeling down on the floor next to the dog. Molly instinctively fell to the ground with her belly up. He scratched her stomach, watching her leg kick back and forth and her eyes close, "It's fine. I like dogs. I wish I could get one, but my mom's allergic."

"I'd give you Molly, but she's mine," Jade said with a laugh.

Beck stood back up and faced Jade, closing the door finally. "I'm more of a Rottweiler guy, myself."

Jade shook her head in approval. Then silence.

"So..." Beck started off saying, finding Jade's eyes with his own, "should we maybe walk away from the front door, or are we going to stand here all day?"

"Oh! Right. Sorry." Jade said. She felt her cheeks heating up, so she turned on her heel and started up the stairs, with Beck following behind her with Molly by his side.

He walked behind her up until she got to her room. That's when she remembered how messy it had been from the previous night and month she hadn't cleaned it for, "Um... my room's a mess. Just so you know."

"I'm down with the mess. You should see my room," he huffed.

Jade rolled her eyes and opened the door. Beck was in awe at the walls. Not only was her name painted beautifully on, but she had posters of some of his favorite bands and art that caught his interest the instant he saw it. The ink went over the paper so smoothly, and it looked like there wasn't a line out of place.

He walked to the opposite side of the room, passed Jade on his way around her bed and stared at the poster that covered her wall next to a window. A portrait of a girl was drawn on it with an ink pen. The hair of the girl was traced, every single strand stood out. Her eyes were colored in with vibrant water colors, and so were her lips, neck, and the bottom of her hair.

"Who drew this...?" Beck asked, turning back to Jade. She was trying to clean while he was distracted.

"I did," she said. Jade walked over to it, standing almost directly behind Beck. She wasn't very prepared when he turned around.

"It's... beautiful," he broke down into a whisper.

His face was mere inches away from her own, with his watermelon scented breath coating her face. Their eyes locked and each of them felt their hearts stop. Jade had a chill run down her spine, while Beck felt goosebumps travel along his arm and down his sides.

She felt her pulse start back up an an alarming pace as his head tilted to the side, and his eyes glossed over. His eyes shot from hers, down to her lips and back.

Jade knew he had a girlfriend. She knew that this could ruin the game she was trying to play. She knew the consequences in their entirety, but right now... she just didn't care.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: To kiss<strong> or _not to kiss_, that is the question... is that really a question?

VVV** ;) **VVV


	6. Before Questions

Beck started to lean in, against every force of his will power. There was just something about this girl... she had everything he had ever wanted. A gorgeous face, true talent in whatever she tried, an amazing singing voice, and from what he could see, a personality different from all of the fakers that resided in Hollywood.

His mind was screaming that it was wrong, he had to think about Jessica, but his heart was forcing him to get closer.

That's when a door slammed downstairs.

Jade and Beck snapped out of their trance with a start. She looked towards the door, then back at Beck with her cheeks a vibrant red. He couldn't look her in the eye because he was just that embarrassed.

How could he have even tried to kiss her?

Beck scolded himself. He could have just ruined everything. Their friendship, their partnership in the play, and she could have probably kicked him very hard in the groin, if given the chance. Sadly, he would have gone through with the kiss if the door hadn't slammed. He might have even gone through with it if the door did slam, only if he was one hundred percent sure she had some sort of feeling for him, but he didn't know.

What he did know, there was something about Jade that had him drawn to her. He couldn't stop thinking about her ever since they ran into each other the first day of school, now he got an excuse to hang out with her even more. It had only been a week, and he was already addicted to her. That never happened to the mighty Beck Oliver. Never.

"Jade?" someone called from downstairs. Jade rolled her eyes, walking towards the door to her room. Her heart was beating three times the normal speed. She could feel the adrenaline coursing through her veins from almost kissing a guy she "didn't" have a thing for, and the slam that startled them out of their moment.

"Thanks for the heart attack, mom," she yelled down into the rest of the house. She turned back to Beck and raised a finger, telling him to hold on one second, then raised it to her lips, motioning for him to be quiet. After he gave her a nod back, Jade walked into the hallway.

She went down into the kitchen, following the sound of her mother's hands slamming cabinets and drawers, obviously putting things away. Jade leaned against the door frame, "You bellowed?"

"Yes. I've got to help your father at the restaurant tonight, so you're on your own. I'm just glad to see that you're up before the sun decides to go down again," her mother chucked a Pepsi at her. Luckily, Jade's reaction time was up to par, it landed in her hand and some condensation flew up to her face. She wiped it off of her face and smiled.

"Thanks Mom. I'll end up ordering a pizza and trying to remember all of my lines," she said with a sigh. That wasn't a lie at all. She just didn't add the fact she had a boy in her room. Out of both of her parents, her mother would be the one that didn't really mind that she was home alone with a boy. She was close to her mom, and he mom still trusted her... despite her past in Calabasas.

Believe it or not, Jade was a good kid, with some bad decisions. Her mother had been to the local police station one too many times. Out past curfew, drug possession, breaking and entering, and a few other times, most of which her father didn't know about. She would always go to her mother if she needed anything. Maybe it was just because her mother was more understanding than her father, and definitely less intimidating.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay? Can I _trust_ you?" this was her mother's way of asking her if she was going to be partaking in any illegal activities in their house. Jade was caught smoking pot in the house, _one time_, and was scolded for a month about it by her father.

"Yes, Mother." she said with a roll of her eyes, "do you want to know the truth?"

"Always. Jaden Leigh, you always get me so worried when you start off a conversation like that," her mom said, putting one of her hands on the counter to brace herself.

"Even if I wanted to smoke pot in the house, I would have no one to get it form," she said, hopefully giving her mother some relief. The thing was, this was a lie. She had recently found a pretty decent source that was only a short distance away from her. The guy could even do house calls if you caught him at the right time.

"Well, if you find someone with some, keep it out of the house. You'll give your father a heart attack."

"You almost gave me a heart attack..." she mumbled.

Her mother didn't hear her because her phone was going off. She searched through her overstuffed, oversized purse and eventually found it after it stopped ringing.

"Fuck..." she cursed under her breath, "another person just flaked on him. Your dad's going to have to do some firing tonight. I'll see you later, kiddo."

"Bye, Mommy," Jade said. She went to the Take-Out cabinet and pulled out a couple different pizza places, grabbed another Pepsi, and headed back up the stairs. She found Beck sitting on her bed, petting Molly's tummy. She smiled and leaned against the door, "having fun?"

The dog jumped up and off the bed, exiting the room.

"I was until you made her leave. Stop being intimidating," he joked. She walked over to her bed and sat down next to Beck, criss cross style, pushing her shoulder into him.

"Anyway, what should we do first, lines or songs?"

Beck started laughing, "did you think we were actually going to be rehearsing?"

"I thought that was the point...?" Jade said, honestly confused. What else would he be doing at her house?

"Really? Hm... I thought you were smarter than that," Beck teased.

"Then what would your intentions be?" she flirted back, giving him a playful smirk.

"To get to know the wonderful, and infamous, Jade West," he said.

She squinted at him, "infamous...?"

"You're the first person to ever beat Jessica in getting a role. Everyone's already talking about you. Believe it or not, you kind of just destroyed her reputation," Beck said with a shrug like it wasn't a big thing. If he was thinking the same way Jade was, he knew that Jessica was over dramatic when it came to this. She wasn't going to land every part she tried out for. Jade was just there to put the girl in her place.

"I'm sorry that I'm talented," she said with her ego showing it's full colors.

"And modest," he said with a laugh.

She laughed along with him, pushing the take out menus into his hands, "pick one. I'm starving."

"On one condition," Jade raised an eyebrow at him, "since I want to get to know you better, we can play the question game. Which is basically asking questions back and forth until we get bored. Anything goes, and you have to answer truthfully and you can't ask the same question back because then it's unoriginal and boring."

She thought about everything she wanted to forget about her old life; her friends, her troubles, her memories that hurt too much to think about, but for some reason, she decided to still play the game, "I think we could do that..."

* * *

><p>"So what's the worst thing you've ever been caught doing?" Beck asked her as he grabbed another slice of pizza out of the lukewarm box that sat in the middle of her bed.<p>

"I've taken part in grand theft auto, with my old best friends," Jade said, smiling to herself. Regardless of the repercussions, that was an amazing night, "we got high on some really weird weed, called Mr. Nice Guy. It was our first time smoking it, and it doesn't exactly give you the high you're supposed to be used to. We ended up crashing the car and getting busted in the process, causing me to spend the night in the local police station."

"Shit, West. You've got better stories that I'll ever have," Beck commented. He was loving this. Every question he could possibly have for the girl was coming out, and she didn't make him feel like a creep for asking them. He was getting so close to her, and he was letting her into parts of his life no one else had ever been, unless they had been there for the event.

"I don't know, that one about your mom and the ant farm was pretty good," Jade said, "That means it's my turn. Have you ever done any drugs?"

"I have not," he stated giving her a suspicious glare, "why?"

"Because we're playing a game about questions, in case you forgot," she said. That wasn't her intention at all. She wanted to know if Beck was even half as experienced as she was. They could be even better friends if she could get him into smoking, maybe even doing harder things with her.

"You're cheating, you know?" he said, looking at her square in the eye, "I have a gift for telling when people are lying, and you're full of shit. You want me to do drugs, don't you?"

"Maybe," she admitted, "I think it's a learning experience. If you don't do it now, when will you ever get to learn what the effects are? How would you have the knowledge for college?"

"I guess that's a good point...?" he figured. "but right now, it might not be the best thing for me. Jessica hates drugs..."

"How long have you even been with her?" Jade asked, reaching over Beck's body to get her drink off the nightstand. He was laying down, propped up on his elbow so he was facing her. The movie, Coraline, was playing in the background, making sure there was no awkward silence. It was already past eight o'clock, and they were still going.

"I believe it's my question, actually." Way to avoid the question, "in your old town, did you have a boyfriend?"

She didn't know what to say to that... In her mind, Justin wasn't her boyfriend, but if she tried to explain what they were, it would only sound like she just didn't like the title. It was too complicated to go into, and it really wasn't worth it, "Nope. Now answer my question."

"I've been with Jessica for a little over four months," he said. Jade was about to talk again, but his phone went off in his pocket. He pulled it out with a sigh, it seemed as though he already knew the ring tone, and he did, "Yes, Jessica?... No, I'm studying my lines... Yeah, but I can't just-... of course I do! What the fuck?... Fine, fine. I'll be there."

He hung up with an angry grunt, "I'm sorry, Jade. I've got to-"

"Your bitch beckons?" she said with an annoyed smirk. Her eyes rolled by themselves, making Beck have a little pang in his chest. The last thing the man wanted to do was go fix whatever life crisis Jessica was facing today.

"Something like that..." he started collecting his belongings. His keys, his jacket, his shoes and socks, and his unused script that was pushed off the bed and onto the floor at some point that night.

Jade was polite enough to walk him down to the front door, even though she couldn't help but be pissed that her time with him was being cut short. They were getting so comfortable with each other. Her mind was freaking out a little, worried that this would all be pushed to the back of his head by Monday morning when they saw each other. People changed too easily in Hollywood, and she wanted this to be the same always.

She yelled at herself. She shouldn't be getting this close to him already. She hardly even knew him. Of course she was already trusting in Andre, and now she assumed she would be able to trust Beck after a little more time getting to know him. The back of her heart was begging for him to text her after he left.

The door was right there, and he had to leave, "I'm really sorry about this, Jade."

"So I've heard. It's whatever. I had fun while it lasted," she said simply. Her guard was back up for now. His girlfriend was obviously more important than she was right now, and it didn't sit well with Jade.

"Hopefully this won't be the last time we do this," he hinted. "I really like hanging out with you."

"I guess the feeling's mutual," Jade said, failing to repress a smile.

He sent one back with just as much heart, "I'll see you Monday at rehearsal, if not before. I'm kind of hoping it'll be before, but just in case-..."

"You're rambling, Beck." She said.

"Yeah, I do that." He said with a sigh. Beck went up to her with his arms held out, awaiting a hug. She clasped her arms around his neck, and his fit smoothly around her waist, his hands not being too lose or too tight on the grip. The hug lingered there for a good thirty seconds, longer than a "friendly hug" they were both used to getting.

Jade pulled back slowly, remembering Jessica at another inopportune time, "You have to go."

"Right..." he said, turning on his heel, giving her one last look. Then he was gone. She locked the door before heading back up the stairs...

* * *

><p>She closed her bedroom door behind her, leaning against it for a second, letting Molly pick her favorite part of the bed to lay on.<p>

As soon as Jade got herself situated into her bed, her phone started vibrating on her nightstand. Two new text messages.

Beck: _I can't wait for Monday._

Justin: _Jade... I love you... Please, just tell me where you are... I need you..._

For the first time all night... she felt guilty for spending time with Beck. Justin _loved_ her, and needed her, and she knew it. Now she was giving up everything she had with him for a guy with a girlfriend. But... would Justin have understood? She was never going to see him again, or Lily. They couldn't keep holding onto futures that weren't going to end up the way they planned.

The college dorm room Lily had planned, with Justin and Jade being her only roommates. The future life Justin wanted to spend with Jade, making a family and living the way they always wanted to.

But it wasn't going to happen, and Jade couldn't keep forcing herself to live a fantasy. She took a frame off of her wall, holding a picture of the three, and shoved it under her mattress, hoping to sleep off her past with them. It was just that, the past. Not the future.

Sometimes, it amazed her how heartless she could really be.

* * *

><p><strong>AN<strong>: I really didn't know much to put in this chapter. I hope it wasn't too boring. The next chapter will be Monday at rehearsal, and I can't wait for it! There's going to be so much more drama from now on. I can't type fast enough, hahaha. I'll update as fast as I can, but I've got some last minute things to do and work to deal with. It should be up by or around the weekend.

VVVV YOU TOTALLY WANT TO VVVV


	7. Before Dante

Jade walked down the hallway with Andre by her side, fending off students who were trying to exit the building, while they were going towards the Black Box. It was harder to get through these students than she ever though possible. The school wasn't very big, so it shouldn't have very many students, but the hallway was crowded to the brim of people trying to get out of the building, and it amazed Jade.

Andre had to stop a few times to talk to a friend or two, but Jade didn't wait to be pushed slowly outside because the man had to flirt. She couldn't count how many people have pushed her shoulder, forcing her to move back an inch, making it even more difficult to be a fish swimming against the current. If she would have been outside, there would have been a fight.

Finally, they both made it through the crowd with very little injury so far. Jade could feel a bruise forming on her left shoulder already, and Andre was pretty sure his toe was going to be swollen by the end of the day. He was limping as he got into the theater.

Jade's heart dropped as soon as she saw who was all over each other on the stage.

Beck sat with his legs hanging over the stage edge, with Jessica between his legs. She was talking about something that seemed to be annoying Beck, but with every pause, she would kiss him on the lips or the neck.

Jade rolled her eyes as Sikowitz crawled onto the stage, a coconut in his hand, "Ms. D'Vito, get off of Mr. Oliver, right now."

"I'm practicing my part," she said with a smirk, kissing her boyfriend again. Beck's eyes were open during his girlfriend's rendition of a passionate kiss. He locked eyes with Jade, and as soon as that happen, a fuse in his mind was switched. He pushed his girlfriend away gently, much to her disappointment.

Jessica noticed his gaze landing on Jade, "well look who the cat dragged in."

"Wow. Did you come up with that one by yourself? Real talent, right there," Jade retorted. Andre laughed as he walked down the row of seats to meet up with Cat.

"There's our star!" Sikowitz said, rushing off stage, passing Jessica with a flick of his wrist in her face. She glared at him and huffed, turning around so Beck could comfort her. He hardly paid attention to his complaining girlfriend, his eyes still looking at Jade. "How are you this fine day?"

"I'm okay... I guess," Jade said as the teacher got to her. He put a hand on her shoulder and guided her to the stage where a few people were already setting up their stage equipment. Sinjin was even attempting to put on stick on boobs to make him look more like a girl. "Oh, Dante."

A boy, about five foot ten turned around with a dazzling smile. Jade's attention was immediately grabbed away from Beck, and onto the new face. His short hair was spiked in a slight fohawk that would have looked lame on anyone but him, and his light brown eyes surveyed Jade up and down. He was hot, yeah, but Jade had a feeling he was a complete jerk once you got to know him.

"Hello, I'm Dante," he said, reaching his hand out. Jade took it politely. She could feel a few different sets of eyes on her, and she was hoping one of them was from Beck. A perfect opportunity to make him jealous if he was that kind of guy, "It seems as though we're engaged."

"So you'll be playing Glenn? I think I can live with that," she said batting her eyes. He smirked back at her playfully.

"How lovely, you get along," Sikowitz said in a boring tone, "Five minutes until we start!"

While Jade and Dante started talking about their characters, trying to build up some chemistry between them, Jessica turned her attention to Beck. She kissed him on the cheek, "I'm gonna go change babe, okay?"

"Go ahead," Beck said, pushing himself off the stage. He left before she could even kiss him goodbye. Her instant instinct was deployed, she acted as though it was her choice and walked onto the stage, glaring at Jade one last time before going in the dressing room.

Beck walked over to Andre. Cat had already left to go to the dressing room so she could put on her make up and whatnot. He plopped down in the seat next to Andre, watching Jade and Dante talk on stage.

He felt something in the pit of his stomach that he wasn't used to. The feeling he had when his older brother got to stay out later, when he got a puppy when he was five and all of his mom's attention was taken from him. The feeling of jealousy.

Beck hardly ever got jealous, but now he was watching Jade flirt, while Jessica lived off attention of other guys and he didn't care. He wouldn't give two shits if she left him for someone else, he cared that much about her.

"Stop staring at her," Andre told him. Jade had given Andre a little incite to how she felt, and Beck had fully confided in Andre about his feelings. He was already Beck's best friend, and somehow, he became Jade's. Luckily, the man was good at keeping secrets.

"I can't help it," Beck stated. He could hear his own anger work it's way into his words.

"Well, you need to. Jessica's gonna kick your ass," Andre said as a joke.

Dante's hand ran up Jade's arm as she let out a laugh, batting her eyes again. Beck bit his tongue, stopping him from saying anything. He gripped the side of the chair, causing his knuckles to turn white with pressure.

"Damn man, they're only flirting. What're you going to do when they kiss?" Andre asked, preparing him for the worst.

"Kiss..?" Beck whispered in a harsh tone. His full attention was on Andre.

"They have to kiss in the play. He kisses her before you do. He's also going to kiss Jessica at the end," he filled him in.

"Wait... I get to kiss her too?"

"I love how you skip everything involving Jessica," Andre said with a laugh, "but yeah. Did you do any reading this weekend?"

"I read a take out menu? That's not the point. He's going to kiss her. I'm not okay with that, dude," Beck said, sending daggers through the air at Dante.

"Then break up with Jessica and go out with Jade."

"It's not that easy," Beck said, running a hand through his hair.

"It's only as easy as you let it be," Andre stated.

Sikowitz took center stage, "Places, people!..."

* * *

><p>Dante waited off stage, watching Jade, Cat, and a girl named Kourtney start singing the song Pop, when Beck walked off stage to the same alcove as Dante. His quick change just so happened to be right next to where Dante enters.<p>

"Hey man," he said to Beck in a whisper.

"'Sup?" Beck replied, not really in the mood to talk to him. He was still bitter about earlier.

"So... you're friends with Jade, right?"

Beck stripped off his shirt, grabbing the other one the girl had next to him. She tried to touch his stomach, but he caught her before she made it that far. The girl apologized quickly and left his side, leaving him alone with Dante.

"Something like that," he said.

"Well then let me cut to the chase: Do you think I have a chance to hit that? She's pretty fine, right?" he said as if finding her was an accomplishment.

"Don't touch her, bro," Beck warned with a bite.

"Woah, protective much? I'm not gonna actually hit her," he said as a joke. Beck didn't think it was very funny, "You've got Jessica anyway, so what does it matter?"

"It doesn't. Try your luck," Beck stated. He couldn't stop it from coming out. After he mentioned Jessica, Beck had to let Dante get his way in fear of him saying something to Jessica. "Jade wouldn't go for a guy like you anyway."

"How much do you want to bet I can?," Dante said, sizing up Beck. He smirked at him with one last look before his cue went off and he went back onto stage, fixing his tie and jacket.

"You'll be fine, just breathe," Cat said as "Holly" went off stage left, giving Jade's hand a squeeze.

"Hey, baby You look hot, lets eat," Dante said, grabbing her hand and leading her to the table in the middle. He shot a wink when he saw that Beck was still looking at him with a slight glare.

Jade sat down as Dante pulled the chair out for her before sitting down himself. The couple to the right of them started to cheer, as the waiters all walked over with a bottle of champagne, sending the cork flying through the air with a pop.

The stage around them stopped moving as Jade stood back up. She started to sing, "_The reason why he chose this place is now so crystal clear. Like our relationship we're going 'round in circles here. And where he's sitting it's as if it all revolves around him._.."

Dante turned his attention back to Jade, "Everybody's having champagne... you don't want any, do you?"

"I'm cool..." Jade stated before the entire room around her froze again, "_If one more couple gets engaged or I hear one more cork... it's hari kari with this fancy little salad fork. He nixed the bubbly which can only mean the outlook is grim..._"

She sat back down, looking down at her hands, "Alright, Glen, I know why we're here..."

"You do?" 'Glen' said with a hand moving up to nervously adjust his tie.

"This is the end, right?" she said, standing up and throwing her napkin down onto the floor.

"The end of what?" he grabbed her hand and stood up next to her.

"You know- 'the end.' The end of you and me as boyfriend and girlfriend."

"Actually, yeah it is," he fished down into his jacket pocket, pulling out a ring box, "Because, baby, I want us to be husband and wife."

Jade's face showed an excited expression, as Dante opened the box.

Everyone around them started to sing and move around the excited couple, "He totally popped the question, totally popped the question. So there's no reason to stop, and question his love, question his love, question his love..."

"What do you say?" Dante asked, slipping the fake ring onto her slim finger, adding it to the other rings that cluttered around her hand.

"Yes!" she said as she flung her arms around him in a hug, but when she pulled back, his lips landed on top of hers. It caught her by surprise, and it was in the script, but Jade didn't feel right with the kiss. She felt like there was absolutely no chemistry between the two.

Dante pressed his lips harder on hers, crushing them against her teeth. He felt a spark no one else had ever given him in a kiss. His tongue snaked out and licked her bottom lip, almost begging for a way in. Jade's eyes shot open and pushed him away.

"That was good! And a rap for today," Sikowitz said, walking over to them, while trying to avoid all the other people messing with the props and costumes, "Next time, a shorter kiss with less slobber."

Dante's face turned as red as an apple. He pulled up his jacket sleeve to cover his hand and wiped his face clear of any excess drool that may have escaped.

* * *

><p>Jade took this as a safe cue to leave the school entirely. She pulled off her annoying blonde wig and sat it on the rack in the almost deserted dressing room. Her throat was bothering her more than she was used to after singing a simple song like that.<p>

That's when she remembered that she had an Arizona Sweet Tea still in her backpack from lunch.

She went over to her locker and undid the lock, grabbing her bag out of there and setting it on the make-up counter. Her fingers fished to find the unopened bottle before she started one of those damn coughing fits. It was her own fault though; smoking marijuana and cigarettes can kill your throat, especially when you get cotton mouth from that bitch, Mary Jane.

Jade could have sworn she was alone when she started to drink the room temperature beverage, but much to her surprise, a boy was standing to the side next to the lockers...

* * *

><p>Beck pushed his backpack over his shoulder, letting the full weight of it collapse onto him. He had a rough day. Fighting with Jessica, dealing with Dante, and watching Jade kiss another guy right in front of him. That was the worst of it all.<p>

Dante wasn't even a decent guy. He was a douche bag, always playing around with the girls he could actually get his grimy hands on. Beck could only count how many girls he's cheated on if he used every appendage on his body. He was the worst choice in the world for Jade to make, especially for a first boyfriend in Hollywood Arts. This could describe her whole reputation with the other guys.

Beck didn't know if he was being protective, or if he was just making up excuses for Jade to stay away from Dante.

He was walking out the back door to the Black Box when he saw Jade from about seven feet away. She was coming out of the girl's dressing room, but she wasn't alone.

Dante had his arm loosely around her shoulders, and Jade wore a smile and the slight redness in her cheeks made Beck's heart sink down to his feet... so far, Beck was the only one who could make her do that. He noticed those types of things. Not Andre, Robbie, or anyone else made Jade West blush, but here was this kid, causing her to do it.

She turned to him and gave him a hug before waving goodbye to him, not noticing that Beck was right there, which made the entire situation worse. He needed an excuse, or a reason that she was letting him put his arm around her, and flatter her in ways she wouldn't let anyone else.

Unfortunately, Dante saw him.

He walked up with a smirk on his face, and some swag in his step, "Good thing you didn't take that bet."

And he kept walking, patting Beck on the shoulder as he left the Black Box out of the front entrance.


	8. Before The Secret

Jade sent Beck a text as soon as she got into her house, "I think rehearsal went pretty well."

She sent him one right after dinner and before her shower, "Hey."

She sent him another one right before bed, "I guess you're busy... goodnight."

Waking up the next morning, she sent him another one, "Morning."

Nothing was ever sent back. For the past three days, they had been texting nonstop, and finally being ignored gave Jade a dark feeling in her stomach.

Had she been too annoying? Had she said something that bothered him? Was Saturday only good on her part? Did someone say something to him about her? Whatever it was, it had to be a lie. She hasn't attended the school long enough to even have a bad reputation, unless her attitude has already spread, which she doubted with her entire heart. She has yet to curse out a teacher, or get into a fight. She was being pretty well behaved, in her own opinion.

Her dad was driving her to school today, which always seemed to catch Jade by surprise. Mr. West was always a workaholic, and taking her to school in the morning, when his business was booming, made her nervous. That must mean there was something they had to talk about.

"Jade, I've got something to tell you," he stated as they sat at a red light. His gray eyes were facing straight, and Jade could see the wrinkles on his face forming from the stress his job was putting on him. He was only thirty two, yet his face had aged as if he were forty.

"Yeah?" she said, pulling out her headphone and pausing her music.

"You know how your play is in just a week and a half... right?"

The light switched to green.

"I'm fully aware of when my play is, dad," she said, showing her annoyance. Her father had a masterful way of beating around the bush.

"Well, anyway," he said in a playful tone, "There's going to be a huge party at The Dome that night... it's Kourtney Kardashian's birthday, and we're already going to be short on staff, and every one of the waiters is going to be flipping out because it's the first major celebrity function at The Dome. The bottom point is... I don't think I'm going to be able to make it to your play."

Jade couldn't get an emotion through her whole body before it changed, "Oh... okay."

Thankfully, as she said that they pulled into the front of Hollywood Arts. Her door opened and closed as her father was telling her a lame apology. She didn't care. This was the first time they had ever missed a show. They didn't even miss the one she did in the second grade about the water cycle, and now they were missing the most important play of her high school career.

Her father never really supported her interest in theatrics, but her mother always did. He still tended to show up though, and end up liking what he saw after he left. Now he wasn't even making an effort to go, and it really did disappoint Jade.

But, she wasn't going to think about this the rest of the day. The way she acted when she was in a bad mood wasn't very good, and could be slightly dangerous to everyone around her.

She plastered her signature smirk onto her flawless face and entered the school with about twenty minutes to spare before the bell sounded.

Her combat boots walked down the hallway, hiding the end of her ripped up leggings. She stopped off at her still blank locker, deciding if she wanted to get started on her design. The supplies were all in her bag, it was only going to take a little bit of time.

She grabbed the tape and black spray paint out of her messenger bag and outlined her locker, making sure that if she went too far out of the lines, she wouldn't have messed up the locker next to hers. She started to shake the bottle, making that loud clicking noise she hated.

Some students looked at her funny for a second, but realized the true purpose of the paint. She started attacking the locker with a base coat of the black. Once that had successfully dried, she took out a silver, Sharpie paint marker, pressing that against the base and drawing her heart out...

The finished product: a girl with her head down, her hair covering her face, held onto the middle of the locker. She was standing on a pathway that came from the told of the locker down to the bottom. Her arms were strung out to the side, and you could see the chains and marks along them. Water colors of purple, green, blue and red, trailed down the path, spreading a little color against the black. She even decorated the lining of her locker with scissors.

Jade took a step back to admire the work she had put into the locker, when she collided with someone, yet again. Her head shot around to look at the person, and it just so happened to be the same person as before.

"Are you making this a habit?" Beck asked, moving around her and kneeling to his locker.

"Oh, so now you talk to me?" Jade didn't mean to come right out and say it, but she had a problem with biting her tongue half of the time.

"No. I said a sentence to you, and I planned on that being it." he shoved his backpack into his locker as Jade began to glare at him, "I can feel that, you know."

"Good. I'm glad. Now, what the fuck did I do? I don't remember doing anything wrong, so would you like to enlighten me a bit?" Jade said, taking a defensive stance with hip jutted out to the side a little and her arms crossed over her chest.

Beck slammed his locker closed, grabbing a binder off the floor and tucking it under his arm. His eyes held anger, and a little bit of hurt from what she could tell. Now she was really concerned. What could she have done to him to do this already? She snapped back to reality before she lost her attitude.

"Why don't you go ask Dante?" He spit at her.

Not even waiting for her to answer, he walked away to class, meeting up with Jessica in the process.

She stared at him in confusion. What was he talking about? Fortunately, Andre walked up to Jade before she could follow Beck, "See what happens when you don't tell people things?"

"Great, now what the hell are you going on about?" Jade said rolling her eyes. Her left hand went up and rubbed her temple.

"He's mad at you," Andre said.

He knew! Jade turned on Andre and pushed him up against the locker, holding his shirt within her fist, getting in his face, "What do you know, Harris?"

"Woah, woah, woah, violent Jade. I'm not liking this," her fist got tighter and her gaze became more demanding, "Fine! He saw you coming out of the dressing room yesterday with Dante. Then Dante said something to him that basically said you were dating him."

"Dating who?" she said, appalled. Dante was gross, there was no way she would have ever stooped to that level. Especially not when her reputation was actually growing at this school as a good person, manipulative and mean, but good.

"Dante," Andre said wincing a little. Her fist was grabbing at his collar, making it slightly harder to breathe than it was before.

Finally, her grip let go completely. She stood there, looking at Andre with anger, "Are you kidding me? Does he really think I'd stoop that fucking low?"

"I think he just saw what he saw, and after Dante decided to tell Beck that you both were dating, it was all he needed for his decision to be made," Andre explained.

Jade let out a strong breath, glaring at everyone around her. She was about to go on a rampage that his school has never seen.

"Jade...?" Andre said cautiously. He hasn't been around Jade long enough to have ever seen this side of her. She had the ability to become a raging, violent, horrible, bitch, and Dante was about to feel her wrath.

He had no choice but to follow her as she went up the center stairs of the main hallway. She was looking left and right, searching high and low for the man who she was "dating." Some smarter people moved out of her way, looking at her with fear. The dumb ones would stand in her way, waiting for her to move so they wouldn't collide. Too bad she didn't move.

She pushed through person after person, with Andre following close behind, apologizing to the people he thought deserved one. She was searching hard and long for this kid, ending up at the Asphalt Cafe.

* * *

><p>Beck was sitting at one of the tables, with his girlfriend next to him, and her friends surrounding them. Normally, Beck kept his distance from the annoying girls, hanging around Robbie and Cat in the morning, but he had been so pissed off at Jade, all he wanted to do was be away from his friends. Avoiding their questions and stares at his bad mood. He knew Jessica wouldn't ask, and it was a comfort he didn't know he liked until now.<p>

That's when he looked straight at an angry Jade walking towards her new _boyfriend_. He rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the table.

Andre saw everything Beck did. He went up to the sitting boy, grabbed his shoulder, and pulled him away from the table, "I think you want to see this, man."

"Why?" Beck asked, watching Jade march her way up to Dante and his cocky friends.

They could hear everything from where they were, only a few feet away.

"What's up, babe?" Dante said with a smirk as he high-fived a friend.

Jade bit her bottom lip, suppressing an 'you've got to be kidding me' smile that was shifting into her muscles, "Babe?"

"Yeah, baby," he said, moving closer to her, giving her a pleading look, as if asking her to play along because of his reputation.

Fuck that, "have you ever tasted pure silver?"

"Why would you ask me-"

That was all he could get out before Jade's hand, clad in two different silver rings, indented itself in his mouth, making the boy fall back onto the rest of the table. His friends all stood there speechless. Dante's mouth was dripping blood from the inside, and the outside. Her punch packed quite a bit of thrust behind it.

"Don't you ever think you can get away with telling people we're dating. Just because we're together in that stupid play, doesn't mean I would ever date someone that's a complete douche bag, like you, get it? Got it? Good. Have a nice trip to the nurse," she stated, making his friends flinch with every motion it took for her to turn and leave.

She was still annoyed, and she walked straight up to Beck, "you should have just asked me if you were that damn curious. Next time, don't jump to stupid conclusions."

And with that, she was off to class.

Beck stood there in awe. He couldn't believe she just punched him in the face... he couldn't believe he didn't ask her first. This was one of the dumbest things he could have done. He felt every word that passed by Jade's lips, and they all felt of hate.

"Did I just fuck everything up with her?" Beck asked as he watched Dante regain his composure.

"I don't know, man. She's pretty pissed," Andre had to speak over the bell.

"God damn it," Beck said, grabbing his binder off the table. He motioned for Andre to come with him to their first period. In the front of his mind, he had to play it cool. In the back of his mind, he had to find Jade and talk to her.

"Yeah. Just leave me here like this," Jessica said in her best attempt at an attitude. Her friends all laughed at her when Beck didn't even look back when she yelled. She huffed and headed towards her own class...

* * *

><p>Beck texted Jade during class, because she was no where to be found, "where are you?"<p>

He texted her at lunch, "I'm worried. Where are you?"

He tried again after school, "Jade? Seriously... I'm about to come to your house."

That was the last try. Nothing ever came back form her, not even when he tried calling her. Luckily, there wasn't a rehearsal after school that day. Actually, Beck couldn't figure out if it was lucky or not. She wouldn't have had a choice but to show up to that if she wanted to keep her part.

He needed to find her. The pit of his stomach was burning him. Something was going on with Jade right now...

It took him almost ten minutes on the city bus to finally get to Jade's street. He noticed that there wasn't a car in the driveway, so he thought it was pretty safe for him to be there. Beck knew that Jade was close with her mom, and somewhat close with her father, and if she told either of them what happened at school, he probably wouldn't be able to see her and check up on her.

He walked up to the front of her house, giving himself a moment to back out if he needed to, but pressing the doorbell anyway. After another minute, he pressed it twice and knocked. Then he heard the sound of her coming down the steps.

She opened the door quickly, then saw who it was.

Before she could slam the door in his face, he put his boot in the doorway, "Jade, please..."

"Please, what?" She asked, looking down at his shoe.

"Let me in so we can talk... Why'd you ditch school?"

"Because I had things to do..."

"What things?"

"Things I can't do in school."

"Jade, just let me in..." he was begging her now. She couldn't keep saying no to him. The way he sounded actually made her heart twitch a little, he sounded sad and actually worried about her.

She sighed and walked away from the door, trudging her way up the stairs. Beck closed the door and followed her. He noticed that she was walking faster than normal, so he made it a point to catch up with her, just in case something in her room was about to be hidden.

He was right, "Can you give me a minute before you come in?"

"Why? What're you hiding?"

"Do you really want to know?" she asked staring him dead in the eye.

"That's why I asked," he said, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Fine. I was going in there to clean up something I can't do in school, and in case you're that dense, I need to put away the pot I was just about to smoke," Jade said, "Now, would you like to come in now or let me clean?"

"I'll come in now," he said, pushing his way through her door without her permission.

She watched him go straight to her bed, and grab whatever he could of the pot. Jade bit the bottom of her lip and looked away from Beck, more ashamed than she would have been if her mother or father had caught her with the stuff.

"What the fuck are you doing with this?" Beck asked, honestly mad at her. How could she do this stuff? It was horrible. He never agreed with drugs, not after his older brother became the person he is today because of them. All the addictions, one leading to the other, everything his brother put his family through.

Jade didn't answer. He took the drugs in his hand and threw it into her trash can next to her nightstand.

"Do you seriously want me to keep asking you, Jade? This stuff is no good. I've seen what it can do, and I don't want to see what it can do to you. Jade, say something... Jaden Leigh, talk to me."

"I can't believe I told you my full fucking name," Jade muttered, digging her nails into her forearm. She held on tight and was sure she was going to draw blood if she kept the pressure going.

"Why are you doing this to yourself?"

"Because..." Jade said, closing her eyes.

"Because why, Jade?"

"Because it's the last time I have from Calabasas. The last thing I have from my friends. This is what we did all the time. Smoke a bowl, go out. Smoke a bowl, go to school. Smoke a bowl, take some coke or E... it's the last thing that makes me think of my friends and I'm sorry if it calms me down a little." She didn't know talking about it would make her this emotional. Jade West never cried. She could have found out she had rabies and it wouldn't cause her to cry, yet here she was, tears falling down her face.

Jadewas attached to the stuff, but when she didn't have it around her, it cut her back to every other day, to three times every week, and now two times every week, but if she didn't get her fix, she had psychological withdraws. Weed wasn't addictive to the body, but it was addictive to the mind when you became dependent on it, especially when she was using it to be closer to the friends who weren't around her anymore.

Beck moved over and took the crying girl in his arms, holding her against his chest, and patting her hair, "I'm going to help you. I'm so sorry, Jade..."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> I know that the weed thing is a little hard to believe, but every other drug seems too AU for Jade to use constantly. The drugs are going to be playing a huge part in the upcoming chapters during the After portion. Everything I put in here will tie into another part, so pay attention!

**_!Should I make the_ After_ section an entierly different story?_**

**NEXT CHAPTER: **The Wedding Singer. They finally have a preformance ready to go. Will Beck and Jade get caught up in their characters and really make their feelings come out? Or will Jade have to deal with the obnoxious Jessica and have her push Jade over the edge? Find out in the next Chapter!

(Just so you know, I **do NOT** have the script, so I'm basing it off of what I already know from the play, giving it a little bit of background action behind the curtians)

Because I WILL BE SWITCHING BETWEEN THE NAMES:  
>Robbie Hart: <strong>Beck.<strong>  
>Julia: <strong>Jade<strong>  
>Holly: <strong>Cat<strong>  
>Sammy: <strong>Andre<strong>  
>George: <strong>Robbie<strong>  
>Grandma: <strong>Sinjin<strong>  
>Linda: <strong>Jessica<strong>  
>Glen: <strong>Dante.<strong>

VVVV REVIEW PLEASE! VVVV


	9. Before The Wedding Singer

**AN:** I will be cutting along the play, only using a few songs that I need to so I can give you the full effect of what is going to happen. The play ties into their story line so well, I'm amazed. Hopefully you will be too.

**REMEMBER, **Italics is singing. If I use Julia or Robbie, it's most likely going to mean they're on stage, if I use Jade and Beck, they're off stage.

Also, I don't own The Wedding Singer, nor do I own Victorious. There you go.

* * *

><p>"Are you nervous?" Cat asked Jade as she helped her straighten out her blonde wig. After Come Out of the Dumpster, it had somehow managed to get turned completely sideways, tangling her actual hair between the strands of artificial hair.<p>

"Cat, I've been on stage for six different songs, why would I be nervous now?" Jade asked, wincing as Cat pulled a little harder than before. If it wasn't for the time restraints, Jade would have done it herself and avoided all of the pain.

"I mean about your big kiss with Beck," Cat said with a laugh.

That was the first time she thought about it since the show had started. They hadn't rehearsed it before because of Dante. It still gave her the shivers when she thought about how he desperately tried to pin himself to her. That could have been the worst kiss of her life.

"I'm not nervous," Jade lied, "It's just a stage kiss. It doesn't mean anything."

"Mhmmmmm," Cat said in a mocking tone which made Jade smile. Cat was the only girl at Hollywood Arts that Jade could actually stand for longer than a day. She was so sweet, and actually really funny. Most people thought that their friendship wouldn't work because Cat was just that, sweet, and Jade was kind of a hard ass, and too blunt about what she was thinking, but she had yet to actually get mad at Cat for anything. That was just as surprising as how well their friendship worked.

"You're good to go!" Cat said with a laugh.

"Just in time," Jade whispered as she ran around the backdrop of the set. She had to get to the other side of the stage in enough time to walk out with Beck on their "shopping" trip.

* * *

><p>The lights shown bright on them as they walked onto the stage.<p>

Julia spoke first, "Oh! Look, a table cloth with daffodils."

"What are you? Eighty years old? No man would want to eat off flowers," Robbie said looking at the table with disgust. "Just go with the lighter one. Anything else will clash with those plates you bought."

"The ones that you **forced **me to buy?"

"They were fifty percent off!"

"It was fifty percent ugly," Julia said, "whatever, we're not even supposed to be buying stuff. We're supposed to be registering so other people will buy this stuff."

"Well then lets see if this registers: you're picking out crap." Robbie said, obviously trying to start off another argument.

That's when the store clerk walked up to them, "Now, kids. Couples always argue when they come here to register. My advice is: be very careful... _it's a tricky situation, first fight. I've seen couples face disaster. Why not tell yourselves you're both wrong, both right, it means that you'll make up faster." _

"_I hate to tell you but we're not with each other. We're sister and brother." _Robbie sang.

"_And he's the slow one."_ Julia countered, patting Robbie's head.

"_She's an idiot according to mother,"_

"_It takes one to know one,"_

They both sang together, _"Tell the night to save it's moonlight, tell the birds not to sing, tell the stars in the heavens they've been misaligned, because it's not that kind of thing."_

A big black lady walked into the center of the shop, staring at a bunch of towels with her husband by her side, "Oh look! A sale on towels. Hold my purse for me?"

"Baby, please. No."

"I said hold it," she yelled at him with a forceful attitude. He held the purse right away and followed her along the rack of towels.

This gave Julia an idea, "Robbie... hold my purse?"

"No!"

"I said hold it!" she said, mocking the lady with all the force she could muster in character.

The lady sang, "_You get stuck with them for better_,"

"_Or worse_," Julia followed and then they sang together, "_No matter which way you stack it_."

The men sang together, "_It's emasculating holding a purse_,"

"_And it doesn't match my jacket_," Robbie said, he followed Julia around the store, "_your evil scheme has worked out just as you planned it, I now understand it._"

"_I shop you carry_," she sang, giving him a pinch on the cheek.

"I_ do the work and you make out like a bandit._"

"It's true," she spoke with pride.

"No, it's scary."

"You're scary!"

"No, **you're** scary."

"Tell the night to save it's moonlight, tell the birds not to sing. Tell the stars in the heavens they've been misaligned, because it's not that kind of thing," They sang together as Julia walked away to look at wedding dresses.

Robbie stood there, deep in thought, "_True there are times, when her eyes meet mine and linger there, for maybe a bit too long._"

He stared at her, watching her pick through the wedding stuff until she finally turned around and looked at him. Their eyes met not just as Julia and Robbie, but as Beck and Jade, "_And I wonder, if there's something hidden in his stare_."

"_No, I couldn't be more wrong_." They sang together. The rest of the cast sang the chorus as they stayed in thought.

Jade couldn't help but think that everything she felt for Beck was stronger than anything she felt for Justin, or any other boy for that matter. He was slowly breaking down her barrier without her stopping him. She couldn't stop thinking about him, she couldn't hate herself for liking him because there was absolutely no way of stopping her feelings from growing. She was finally sure that she liked him, but the only thing holding her back was the most important question: how does he feel?

Beck was still staring at her, with all of these thoughts coursing through his brain. Her eyes really do catch his and linger, not just during this scene, but in class and when they're just hanging out. She smiles so much more when he's talking to her than anyone else. He's comfortable with her, and she's letting him into her heart little by little. They're already close friends... but does that mean they could be more? It would all depend on how Jade felt. Would she be willing to give him a chance?

As the chorus ended, Julia found the perfect wedding dress. She beckoned Robbie over, "Robbie. Oh my God. This is it. The dress I was meant to get married in. Do you think I'll look alright?"

He stared directly into her eyes, "You'll look beautiful..."

The music stopped and Holly came in, "It's perfect! Glen isn't going to be able to keep his hands off of you. I know he's going to plant you with one big, sloppy, wet one."

"In church...? In front of God and everyone? I think that's pushing it a little too far," Julia said, show off how conservative she really is.

"Well, what do you want then?" Holly asked, honestly confused. "Your lips touching him, and then it's over? Boringggggg."

"No. Thin lips, partly open, **no** tongue, then over."

"No tongue? You need a little tongue," she stated.

"Well... maybe just a sliver of tongue," Julia said, twirling her blonde hair. She had a flashback of the kiss Dante had given her in rehearsal, and thanked the heavens that he had done less earlier in the show., "But I want church tongue, not formal tongue."

"Um... then what's church tongue?"

"It's hard to describe..." Julia said, trying to find the words to get it out right.

"Then you should just show me," Holly said, turning her attention to Robbie with a devious smile.

He looked around the room in a frantic way, "I've gotta go."

But before he could get away, Holly had him by the jacket, "Shut up and do it, Hart. C'mon Julia."

She positioned the two so they were facing each other, "Come on. We're all adults here. I need to see this if you want me to make an educated decision."

"Okay..." Julia said, "just for educational purposes..."

"You may kiss the bride," Holly said, clapping her hands together.

"I do."

"I do."

Robbie was the first one to lean in, not caring who was watching, who was judging, or who was jealous. His adrenalin was pulsing down his body, and he could feel his heart thumping through his chest. He wondered if she could hear it, or if his mic was picking up the sound and sending it out to the audience.

Julia followed his lead, pressing her soft lips against his own. The first time they kissed, it was short, but had so much spark. Julia pulled back a little in shock. Has a kiss with anyone else ever sent her emotions through the roof like this? No. Never before.

To Robbie's surprise, after she left the kiss, she came back in for another one. This was full of passion, wanting, and everything he needed to know about how she felt towards him.

After a good thirty seconds or so, Holly had to intervene, "Woah," she got out as they pulled away from each other, a dazed expression on their faces, "whatever that was, you need to do that at the wedding."

"Julia..." Robbie started.

"Yes, Robbie?"

"I think-"

"What's up, home dogs?" Glen said, coming onto the stage with his sweater tied around his neck.

Way to ruin the moment...

* * *

><p>As soon as Beck got off stage left, he saw Jessica about to go out onto the stage, "Babe, you did so good. That kiss was a little too convincing though. If I didn't know better, I'd think you actually liked-"<p>

"We need to break up," Beck stated, rushing to get his costume off. He was still in a daze, and he really needed to try and find Jade. Jessica was saying protests, and almost bursting into tears as she noticed he really wasn't paying attention to the words she was saying. Her desperate attempts to get everything she felt for him out in hopes he would stay, but it was no use. She was still talking when he rushed away form her for another quick change.

"_Yeah, you're single. You are single and no chick will ever moonwalk on your heart. Trust me, this is when the good times really start_," Andre sang. They forced him to wear a fake mullet that looked all kinds of wrong with his skin tone. He was struggling to balance it on his head as he moved around the stage in his song, "_No one minds the laundry on your floor."_

"_No one pouts with every chick you look at_," another guy sang.

"_No one tries to clean your porno drawer,_" the bum sang, taking another swig of liquor from his half way empty bottle.

They all sang together, "_No one traps you with "does my ass look fat?"_

George started to sing. He was in a long wig and an awkward top hat, along with a ruffly suit that looked like old English wear, only purple, "_Bust a move in some woman's underwear, while your blasting Cher or Wham_."

"_So fill your ranger's cup, the toilet seat stays up, the fridge gets stocked with beer and spam, 'cause you're single. You are single_," they all sang together.

"_Not a care in the world can bother you. You are single, you are single, you can do what you've always wanted to do. No commitments because you're only passing through_," George sang.

The tempo changed to more of an alternative rap beat, "_Yo, making a date with some needy girl is a wast of my time and my Jheri Curl."_

"_I don't need a girl who don't understand when I've got a date with my left hand."_

"_Well, I like the ladies, heaven knows, but in the words of Nietzsche, "Bro's before Ho's'."_

"_Now, I don't like a girl who'll cry and bawl, in fact, I've never liked girls at all,"_ George stated with a flip of his long wig, earning a laugh from the audience.

Robbie came onto the stage, "_Sammy, George, Ricky and Bum, I'm startin' to see where you're comin' from. I'll stay single, always single. I'll behave like a dude's meant to behave, Always single, Ever single. Single now and 'till I'm in my grave_."

"_Because I'll stay single, 'till I'm rotting slowly in my lonely, forgotten grave_," they all sang as the music ended.

In the back of his mind, Beck was laughing at the song. He wouldn't be single for long... hopefully. He still had some doubts up there, but a part of him was sure. It might have just been his nerves getting the better of him, but he couldn't tell. He knew by the end of the night, she would know how he felt.

* * *

><p>The scene switched. Robbie, George, and Sammy were all walking to Julia's house.<p>

Sammy gave him instructions, "Alright. Don't worry about her reaction. Just pour your heart out. What's wrong, bro?"

"Look at how happy she is... I can't just ruin her life. I have absolutely nothing to offer her."

He stared up at Julia through her balcony window, watching her practicing for the big day. She was talking to herself in the mirror, brushing her long blonde hair.

"Whatever. Sammy, we should go." George said, giving the guy a pat on the back before they were gone.

Robbie started to sing, "_Standing here underneath your window, searching for some kid of sign. Every move, every tiny gesture, only proves that you're not mine. I could write you a thousand love songs, search the world for the perfect tune and rhyme, but what good would it do when it seems I'm out of time..._

"_If I told you, all the words I've yet to say. Would they matter, or would you simply turn and walk away? If I hold you... would you tell me I should go? Do I chance it, or would it just be better not to know_?"

Julia got up from her seat and moved to the balcony, never looking down, "_Who's that girl with the perfect future, her reflection says it all. Trying hard to pretend she's eager, searching for some way to stall. So unsure of the road she's chosen, faced with feelings her heart shall not allow. One thing's certain, it seems that she just can't turn back now, if she can, tell her how._"

"_Would it just be better... not to know_," they both held the last note as long as they could before the scene and the music died down.

Jade poured her heart out in that song. She felt everything in that kiss. Beck really did have feelings for her. If only she knew for sure.

Glen came by her house while Robbie was still outside. He was sitting on the lawn when Glen walked up with two girls who seemed to be pretty wasted, and he wasn't looking too sober himself. The girls were giggling up a storm, "Girls, be quiet. My fiance lives here."

"Glen?" Robbie said standing up and staring at him in disbelieve. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Robbie, my man. What's happening?" Glen said, about to give him a high five. Robbie just glared, "Man, you know how it is. I'm a bird. A Free spirit. I can't be tied down to just one girl."

"Then why did you ask her to marry you?" This was going to be Beck's favorite part of the show.

"Because she's so hot, and I like the status. Besides, chicks go for married dudes all the time," Glen said it as though it was a secret no one else knew.

Robbie pulled back and laid a real punch onto Glen's face. He fell back and held his nose in pain, "not again..." Beck heard him mumble. He left stage right, smirking at his triumphant punch. Nothing like Jade's, but still good enough...

* * *

><p>"<em>I wanna make you smile, whenever you're sad. Carry you around when your arthritis is bad, all I wanna do, is grow old with you<em>," Robbie sang, playing the guitar. They were "in" Las Vegas with Julia and Glen at the alter, about to be married by Ronald Ragen.

Julia started to sing along with him, "_I'll miss you, kiss you, take your shoes off and rub your feet. Need you, feed you, and when we play checkers I'll let you cheat. So let me do the dishes in our kitchen sink. Put you to bed when you've had too much to drink. Oh I could be the one, who grows old with you... I wanna grow old with you..._"

"Julia... Will you marry me?" Robbie said, and he meant it.

"On one condition," Julia said, taking his hand, "_Will you sing at my wedding?_"

Robbie's smile grew as he shouted, "_YES_."

They got off stage before the next song started for a quick change. While Jade had a two girls helping her strip out of her clothes, and into her fancy wedding dress, Beck only had himself to get him changed into this tux.

He didn't care about the time, he didn't care about the girls helping her, all he wanted to do was kiss her.

And he did. His hand came up and cupped her chin gently, and pressed his lips against hers while the girls were trying to take off her clothes without disrupting the lip action. She bit his bottom lip, and their mouths both parted to go deeper into the kiss.

Jade was only in her bra and panties by the time the kissing stopped. She was in even more of a daze than before.

"Jade. Be my girlfriend," Beck stated instead of asked. All she did in response was kiss him again, after she stepped into her last costume, of course.

They were both changed and ready to go by the time it was their turn to get onto the stage again.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, Mr. and Mrs. Robbie Hart!" the Master of Ceremony said as the two rushed on stage, holding hands.

"_If I told you what I'm feeling now inside, you'd be certain there's not a single thing that we should hid. If I hold you, there's one problem you should know. If I hold you, I might not ever let you go_," they sang together before Robbie joined his band on stage, giving Sammy a high five and patting George on the back as they played the music for him.

"_So when it's your wedding day, and my music starts to play, I can guarantee that love will always find you_," everyone was dancing around him and the other party goers. Julia joined him on stage, "_Yeah when it's your wedding day, all the problems melt away. You can count on me because love is what, yes __love is what..._"

"I do," Julia stated.

"I do," he repeated.

They shared another on stage kiss, with just as much passion as the first two, as the room around they all sang in harmony, one last, "_Love is what I doooooo_."

* * *

><p><strong>AN<strong>: And that would be the start of the Beck era. I think I'll add one more chapter to this and make it an even ten. I do apologize for the length, and I did cut out other songs that I planned on adding when I got around to the fifth page, lol. I think this has really been my favorite chapter yet.

VV What did you think? VV


	10. After One Year and Eleven Months

_After One Year and Eleven Months._

Jade's alarm clock started to blare directly in her ear that annoying Monday morning. Her head was pounding with every irritating buzz that came out of the clock. She didn't bother to pick her head up from the comfort of the pillow, instead she just reached out her hand and searched for it.

The bed beside her let go of some pressure as she found the stupid clock.

"Jade. Wake up," someone said. If Jade didn't know better, she could have sworn the human form of sunshine was right next to her. "It's Monday, and it's time to get up and greet the day!"

"Cat... shut up," Jade muttered, leaving her eyes closed and her head buried against her pillow.

The girl sighed. Getting Jade up in the morning was one of the most difficult tasks Cat had ever faced. She didn't function very well in the morning, especially when the two of them had stayed up until three in the morning, searching every store that was still open for the right color, and dying Jade's streaks a shade of teal and a shade of green.

She looked at the clock again. The red numbers glowed six thirty. They only had forty minutes to be on the road, and it took both of them at least twenty to get ready.

There was only one thing Cat could think of to do that's worked in the past. She got out of the bed and pulled open the dark purple drapes that hung over the closest window to Jade's bed. She reacted just as Cat expected, she pulled up the covers so that her head was covered with her black pillow top comforter.

Cat decided to take another step after she ripped the covers off the bed entirely, she also took the pillow away from her head, giving her no option but to suffer with the sun, "Catttttt. I hate you."

"What's that supposed to mean!" Cat said, honestly concerned.

"I'm joking. I want sleep," Jade said as she curled up into a ball on her bed.

"Well, you can't have sleep. You need school. And according to your calendar, it's your one year and eleven month with Beck," Cat mocked. The day was covered in hearts and stars, along with 'Beck and I one and eleven!'

Jade smiled and finally got up, even though her face still showed off how tired she was.

"I had a feeling that would get you up. Can I shower?" Cat asked, pointing to the bathroom door.

She nodded a yes as she threw her legs over the side and landed on the floor. A yawn came out of her mouth when she stretched, and she couldn't fight it back. She walked to her dresser and opened three different drawers before she stripped off her short shorts, and replaced them with ripped up skinny jeans. She also pulled out a gray short dress that fluffed out around her hips, and made her boobs look great because of the extra support.

Jade knew she had to look amazing today, just to tease Beck until their night together. She also had to adjust the necklace that Beck had given her on their first anniversary, to match his own. She never took it off. It was black, with a silver ring, so it always matched everything she had.

She heard the water in the bathroom turn off. Cat emerged dressed in her outfit for school. Short shorts, sandals, and a yellow v-neck. It was a classic look for the girl.

It was weird how the two of them had become the best of friends. Jade was dark, blunt, and if you didn't understand her personality, she was mean. Cat was the sweetest girl in the world, but not the brightest. They clashed on different things, but they still understood each other. They had the weirdest inside jokes, and had the greatest times together, even when Jade was a little too blunt and Cat was a little too dense.

The clock read seven ten after they both had their make up done the way they wanted, Cat with barely any, and Jade with a glob on each eye. Each of them grabbed their backpacks and headed down stairs.

As she had expected, Jade's mom was in the kitchen, fixing the girls up a to go breakfast like she did every time Cat spent the night. Her mom wasn't one for getting up early, but every now and then she would surprise Jade by getting up and making a small breakfast, or preparing a toasted bagel with cream cheese for each of them. Today was one of those days.

"Morning, girls," she said as she tried to show a cheerful smile. Jade inherited her morning attitude from her mother, obviously. She was still in her fluffy red robe, clutching her coffee in her hand like it was life support and hardly opening her eyes. When she would blink, her eyes would stay closed for as long as possible before shooting open, making sure the woman stayed awake.

"Morning, Mrs. West," Cat said with a smile. She gratefully took the bagel in a napkin, and grabbed a juice box from the fridge.

Jade mumbled a "hi, mommy" before making her way over to the coffee pot. She grabbed a paper cup off the counter and started pouring the vanilla scented coffee in. Her father had a bunch of coffee to go cups from Morning Star that he would bring home, knowing his family couldn't function in the morning with out their coffee. Jade had to bring it in her car, and he didn't want to pay to reupholster her car if she spilled it.

They didn't say much else after Jade grabbed her bagel. The girls took a few bites before wishing a good day to Jade's mother before they were headed out the door. Jade said goodbye to a sad Molly while fishing through the dish on the door-side table for her set of keys.

The only thing that made them stand out above all of the other metal colored keys was her charms. A climbers clip held together her house key, car key, and the garage clicker, not to mention the head of Jack Skellington that hung off a chain, a beaded string that spelt out Jade, and a ring that Beck had given her after their one year to be a promise ring.

It always made her smile to think about that ring. A promise to be faithful, loving, and more than anything else, a promise to put up with everything she ever threw at him, and likewise. It made her feel like she was needed, and actually had a chance of a future with someone she cared for.

She patted Molly on the head before following Cat out into the driveway. She opened the doors on her black Mazda, letting Cat get inside while she got in her own side. Backing out of the driveway, the first thing that came on the radio was one of their favorites, Teenage Dream.

Cat turned up the volume to a higher volume and started to sing, "_Let's go all the way tonight, no regrets, just love. We can dance, and we'll be young forever_."

They started to sing together, "_You make me, feel like I'm living a teenage dream, the way you turn me on. I can't sleep, just run away and don't ever look back don't ever look back. My heart stops, when you look at me just one touch and baby I believe, this is real, just run away and don't ever look back don't ever look back._

"_I'll keep your heart racing in my skin tight jeans and be your teenage dream tonight. You can put your hands on me in my skin tight jeans, I'll be your teenage dream tonight," _They yelled over the music, cracking up as Jade pulled into the parking lot of Hollywood Arts...

* * *

><p>Cat didn't have a choice of walking with Jade to meet their friends or not. She had to go see the guidance counselor about an incident with an animal in her locker, along with three pounds of seaweed. To this day, it still amazed Jade how Cat could wind up in these odd situations. It never let her life be anything normal, and she actually liked it.<p>

Jade was walking quietly down the hallway, ignoring the jealous glares of girls who wanted nothing but to be her, and the longing glares of guys who wanted nothing more than to have her, when someone came up behind her and clasped their hands over her eyes. She stopped walking, "Are we really going to do this?"

"Why not?" the person said with a thick accent, but one that was obviously fake.

Jade smirked and pushed her back against the person's chest. She couldn't feel boobs against her shoulders, and the person was taller than her, so it had to be a man. She had a feeling about who it was already. She reached her hands back to the person's waist. Her hands traveled up his side, and to the rib cage, then she pushed her nails against his side and pulled her hands down.

The man's breathing went ragged and he pressed his mouth to her ear, blowing a little before he bit down gently on her lobe. She got a shiver sent down her body, raising the hair on her arm. Jade turned around in the guys hands and landed a kiss with the mysterious man. She could feel his mouth forming into a smile as the kiss ended.

"You're getting too good at that game," Beck told her as he pressed his forehead against hers, staring into her eyes with a loving gaze. She kissed him again before he decided they needed to walk. She stumbled a little before she got the hang of it. He pushed her backwards, guiding her by the hips, attempting not to crush her feet under his own.

"I'm sorry that I'm good at everything," Jade said with a laugh while her arms snaked around his neck. Her body was on fire. Just the touch of her boyfriend could ignite every sense in her body. That was something only he had ever accomplished that no one else could, and it made Jade think that Beck could be the one.

"You shouldn't be good at turning on guys when you don't even know who they are," Beck said with a warning tone. She could see a small smile looming over his lips.

"Then I shouldn't be allowed to walk down the hallway. Every guys here gets turned on when they see me," she said, letting her ego come out with full shine. It was the truth. There were guys staring at them, but not just of the male persuasion. There were plenty of girls staring at Beck, but they knew better than to get caught. Jade was known for ruining reputations in a heartbeat, and sometimes even throwing punches. Her old habits of always getting in trouble still seemed to follow her everywhere.

She felt the cool metal of her locker pressing against her back. His coordination never ceased to impress her. He made it down two hallways with his focus just on her, with no accidents, thankfully. She pouted when he left her grasp and stood beside her, "Want me to get you some coffee?"

"Shit," she muttered, remembering she left her half empty coffee in her car. At least it would leave a nice smell, "I forgot mine in the car."

"Do you want me to get you a new one?" he asked. Something about his tone gave her a hint that she should say yes.

She looked at him suspiciously, "Sure... okay."

He gave her a sweet kiss on the cheek before he left down the hallway. He turned a corner when Andre walked up to her, "What's up, girl?"

"Beck's being suspicious. What's up with you?" Jade said, dropping her bag to the floor.

"Nothin'. I just fought off an entire crowd of transfers trying to get over here," Andre said as he massaged his shoulder, "I think I pulled somethin'."

Jade smiled at him and rolled her eyes before opening her locker. To her surprise, there was a stuffed Sally plushy doll, from The Nightmare Before Christmas, with a little note attached to her hand. Jade's heart melted as she read it, "You're the Sally to my Jack. And we'll have Halloween on Christmas, and in the night we'll wish it'll never end. Happy One Year and Eleven Months. Love, Beck."

She loved how he adjusted the lyrics to fit the first line.

"D'awwwww," Andre mocked as the bell rang. Jade took the doll out of her locker and hit Andre lightly with it. She grabbed her Gears of War bag and walked with him to class...

* * *

><p>Beck was just getting the coffee into the building as the bell rang. It would have been a waste of time for him to walk all the way back to his locker to meet Jade when she was going to the same first period as he was, so he decided to go there first and wait.<p>

Today, they had acting first period. With all of the new transfers flooding in from other schools for late acceptance, Hollywood Arts wanted to show off their art programs for the students. They would follow their schedules, and decided later if they wanted to stay at the school, or if they wanted to go back. Most of them decided to stay in the end anyway.

Beck's phone went off as he got into the classroom, with Robbie right behind him. They would have walked in having a conversation if Robbie and Rex didn't start arguing about if Whitey Tighties were manly or not.

'What took you so long?' Jade's message said. He was in the middle of replying when a girl decided Beck's shirt looked tired, and needed some coffee to wake it up. The coffee spilled all over his new shirt, blending the brown liquid with the pink fabric.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry," the girl said in a panic.

_Transfer student_, Beck thought, "It's cool. It happens."

"No, here, let me help," the embarrassed girl insisted before she started to use her sleeve to try and dry up the stain. He felt the heat seeping into his skin, and luckily he had a little bit of a walk to get to the classroom, and it wasn't as scolding as it could have been. "I think it's coming out."

"Actually, I think you're making it worse. Sorry," Beck said with a laugh, and looked at her for the first time. The girl looked up at him at the same time, and their eyes met. She was already hooked on his light brown eyes. He, on the other hand, thought she was pretty, but in the back of his mind all he could think about was how she wasn't Jade.

"Dude," a girl said in a warning tone coming into the classroom, "Why're you rubbing on my boyfriend?"

"Oh! I just spilled coffee on him, and it was an-"

"Get away from him," Jade said with Andre coming into the room after her. He knew would could result from this, so he quietly moved to a safer part of the room and sat in a seat in the second row.

"Relax, Jade," Beck said like it wasn't a big deal. He walked up to her and landed a kiss on her cheek. Just like Andre, Beck knew exactly how his girlfriend could get. It really did bother him at times. The way she would try to dictate everything he did, how she had to know where he was and who he was with. He didn't mind at first, but lately, it was almost too much.

The back door to the room opened, and their teacher, Mr. Sikowitz, burst through the door in a panic, "Oh my god, there's a huge fire coming this way!"

The room erupted into a load of screams and frantic rushing to get to the door.

"Kidding, kidding, kidding," he laughed, "just wanted to get your blood pumping... which I did. Ha! Alright now, lets get started. Rumps in chairs."

"This is our teacher...?" Jade heard the new girl question to Andre. Jade already didn't like the vibes she was getting from the new girl. Something about her just wasn't right, and it was starting to piss Jade off even more.

"First off, I'd like to introduce you all to our new transfer student, Tori Vega, and why we only have one of them, I'm quite surprised," he mumbled the last part to himself, "and I would also like to thank her for her generous donation of two dollars, which wasn't necessary, but greatly appreciated."

"You gave him money?" Andre asked.

"I thought he was a bum!"

"Now today, we are going to continue our study of group improv. Now Tori, I'm sure you're familiar with improv."

"Um... Well, yes and no..."

"What does that mean?"

"No..." she mumbled. This made Jade laugh to herself, then received a pinch from Beck, who was sitting next to her, laying his arm around her shoulders.

"Crash course. Improv, acting without a script, which means the actors must make up their own stage directions, and dialog, and plot, as they preform the scene. Got it? Good! Jade, you will captain the first group of the day," he said, jumping off the stage.

Jade smirked. She strutted past Tori and onto the stage, hoping the girl could feel how intimidating she really was.

"I'm going to pick Cat, Eli, Beck and Tori," Jade said with an evil smirk playing on her lips.

Tori looked up with slight horror. Andre gave her a push in the right direction, and a look that said 'go on, you'll be fine.'

"Alright, lets start. Give them a place," Sikowitz said.

Robbie shouted, "home!"

"Home! Okay. You're at home, and the situation will be big news."

"Why don't you go wait out in the hall?" Jade said with a mock friendliness towards Tori. She muttered a 'sure' before leaving the room as the scene started.

"Hey babe, how was work today?" she said with a cheerful tone.

"Um... I got fired," Beck retorted. Jade sighed and her "children" stood up.

"Again?" Eli said in a baby voice.

"Our daddy's a loser," Cat said, copying the way Eli said his line.

"That's okay," Jade said, walking over to the door Tori stood at, "I've got great news for this whole family. I went to the animal shelter and got us a dog!"

"Yep... I'm the new family dog. Woof," she sounded disappointed. Beck rolled his eyes. Jade would do something like this.

"Sikowitz, please tell this amateur that dogs don't talk, and they don't stand on two legs. SIKOWITZ." Jade ordered.

"Sorry, I was sucking the milk out of this coconut, but Jade's right. If you're going to play a dog, be a dog," he said simply.

Tori glared at Jade, but slowly sank down to her knees, "Woof!"

"Action!" the teacher ordered.

"Oh wow!" Cat and Eli said together, bending down to pet Tori on the head.

Beck thought this was the perfect time to mess with his girlfriend, "Can the dog sleep in our room?"

She fired a warning through her eyes, "No, honey, it can't... Oh no, it looks like this dog has bugs in her fur."

"Ew!" the 'kids' screamed and backed away.

"It's alright kids. I read on the internet that coffee," she stepped off stage and grabbed the ice coffee out of some kids hand and returned to the stage, "is the best way to kill off bugs in fur."

"Um, maybe you shouldn't..." Beck tried to get to the coffee before Jade could fill out the scene the way she planned.

"Jade," Andre said in a desperate attempt to stop her. It was too late. She already took the top off, and was now starting to pour the cold coffee onto Tori's head, letting the last few ice cubes land in her hair.

She slowly stood back up to her feet, completely speechless.

"What's the problem, _dog_?" Jade said. She was a force to be reckoned with, and she wanted for Tori to know full well what she was capable of.

Tori couldn't say anything. All she could do was hide her face and leave the room. Andre felt terrible about what one of his best friends just did to this poor girl. This was taking it a step too far when the girl didn't do anything but accidentally spill coffee on Beck, and was just trying to help.

"That was so not cool, Jade." Andre stated, following behind Tori.

Jade held her ground, her face never faltering from the "fuck with it" look she mastered so well, crossing her arms across her chest.

"Jade... what the fuck?" Beck said as Sikowitz sent Robbie and Rex out to look for the missing Andre and Tori.

"So, you're taking her side?" Jade said, throwing her arms down in frustration and disbelief. "Are you serious?"

"What sides? You just poured coffee on a girl who was already terrified about moving to a new school where she doesn't know anyone, and embarrassed her in front of a class she's going to be around for the rest of the school year. She spilled your drink on me, and was trying to help me get the stains out of my shirt, and you end up ruining her self esteem. How could you do that?" Beck yelled at her.

Jade wasn't used to Beck raising his voice at her. It not only made her upset, now it made her nervous. He was standing up for a girl he had known for fifteen minutes against the girlfriend who he has had for almost two years. All he was doing was building her insecurities up higher and higher.

She walked off stage, not letting anyone see her attitude fall apart. She grabbed her backpack as she walked through the isle of chairs, ignoring Beck's voice, and Sikowitz's order to stay in the classroom.

She didn't give a fuck. She had to get out of this classroom. She had to get out of this school...

* * *

><p>Jade walked down the stairs and turned to the left, heading to her locker when something caught her ear. A giggle, and the sound of a spray paint bottle being shaken. Her curiosity got the best of her.<p>

Her locker was now being ignored as she turned the corner. To her surprise, a blonde girl was holding a box of spray paint, and a tall boy with shaggy brown hair was shaking a bottle. Their lockers were in front of them, so it wasn't an attempt at vandalism. What surprised her the most was who the people were.

She couldn't help herself from keeping her distance. She walked right up to the girl, causing her attention to switch to Jade. The blonde girl dropped her box onto the floor in shock.

"What the fuck is wrong with you, Lilz?" the man said, looking at her with a confused expression. He followed her gaze and landed eyes on an old friend, "Jade...?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>SORRY! I know that was a long one. I apologize. I just had a bunch of things I wanted to get into this chapter, and really didn't notice what the length was until I started working the Pilot Episode into here. Oh well. I hope you enjoyed it, at least.

Read and Review!


	11. After Skipping

"Jade...?" the man said in disbelief. He squinted to make sure he wasn't just on some weird trip again. It happened before, and he could have sworn she was real every time. He snapped his fingers in front of his face, sticking them between his view of her and his eyes. When she didn't disappear, he knew she was actually there.

He dropped the spray can on the floor and rushed to her, with Lily following right behind him. His arms dropped down and her arms flew up. Even after all this time, they still had their hugs down to a science. She took over the shoulders, and he went under her arms, lifting her up slightly as she buried her face in his shoulder.

Jade's heart was rushing faster than any other part of her body could manage. She talked herself into thinking that she was never going to see these two again, and now they were standing right in front of her, "Lily... Justin... I can't believe you're here."

When Lily hugged her, she couldn't help but get tears in her eyes. She held on tight to the little blonde girl who was still about an inch or two shorter than her.

Lily pulled away from the hug with a tear running down her cheek, but she quickly pulled down her black sleeve and covered her hand before wiping the tear away and sending Jade a smile. Justin was the same way, without the tears. He was just happy.

His heart felt like it was smiling, unlike it was for the past two years without her. Jade was his everything; everything that made him happy, everything that made his days better, everything that sparked his interest. He had never found any girl close to her, and he knew in his soul he never would again.

"So this is where you disappeared to?" Lily asked, remembering how her best friend had left both of them alone and in such a rush she couldn't even spare them a single goodbye.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you... it was just easier this way..." Jade tried to explain, but her words wouldn't come out the way she wanted them to. It was all just a babble of chaos in her mind, but in reality it just wasn't coming out.

"Easier? You left us with nothing, not even a note or a fucking smoke signal," Lily said. This was why Jade and Lily had become so close. She was a bowl of sarcasm and Jade was the mean milk and the frosted bitch cereal.

"Don't you pull that shit on me," Jade said pointing her finger at the girl, "You know exactly what I'm talking about. Like you wouldn't have done the same thing."

Lily rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, sending her gaze to Justin. Jade smirked in triumph. This always happened when Lily knew she was wrong.

"I know she would have," Justin said as he pushed his side into Lily's, sending her off balance. "Why wouldn't you at least tell us where you were going after you moved? Or just told us that you were leaving, but not tell us where?"

"I don't know, okay? It just seemed easier this way," Jade said. "But it's the past, and now you're here, so it doesn't matter. Now what are you doing here?"

"We got transferred here," Justin started, "Lily got in for her art work, and I got in for my writing."

"Congrats to both of you," Jade said when she was at a loss for words. Lily had always been amazing at art, but Justin caught her off guard when he mentioned his writing. Jade hadn't seen anything he wrote before. "I didn't know you could write..."

"There's still a lot you don't know about me," Justin said with a smirk.

"We were just about to ditch... wanna join?" Lily said, digging into her pocket and pulling out a little bag of green, and putting on a sinister smile.

"Um... I haven't really smoked in a while..." Jade said. For a while was exactly one year and eleven months ago, the day she started dating Beck.

_Beck. _Her feeling of absolute rage came back into play.

"Fuck it. My car's out in the parking lot..."

Beck spent the rest of the day with his phone in his hand and his necklace in his mouth, chewing on the leather strap. He was worried about his girlfriend. Jade was always in a bad mood when he didn't return her phone calls or text messages, and she always wanted to talk to him. Now she wasn't returning anything he sent.

"Hey," Andre whispered as their vocal teacher droned on about scales in the background, "Anything?"

"Not yet..." Beck said as the bell rang. Luckily, he didn't have another class in the day, so he was free to check on the ever missing Jade. He was almost positive she would be at her house, either writing or sleeping... unless she was plotting against the world. That was something that he really didn't want to get into. "Wanna go with me to check on her?"

"Yeah, man. I've got Creative Writing next and it just isn't as fun when Jade's not giving back the harsh and sarcastic criticism," Andre said, "Besides... I should probably apologize."

"You didn't do anything wrong, man. It's just how Jade is," Beck said as they walked out of the classroom together.

"Yeah, but even after all the times I've spent cooling her down, I still feel like it's the first time."

Andre wasn't one for confrontation, but being one of Jade's closest friends caused him to see or fend off an argument almost twice a week. Just last week, he had to fend her off against Jessica for the third time in a month. The girl had sent Beck a text message while he was in the shower, and Jade picked up the phone for him. That was all it took The next morning, Jade was ripping everything out of Jessica's locker and either ripping it or sending it to the nearest trashcan while screaming obscenities at the helpless girl.

It was never boring with Jade around...

They arrived at Jade's house in minutes. Beck almost missed the driveway as he pulled in.

"Man, could you have driven any faster?" Andre asked after he got out of the car. He grabbed his chest like he was having a heart attack.

Beck had already started walking up the pathway that lead to her front door, ignoring the rhetorical question completely. His hand landed on the doorbell, ringing it twice. He really, really hoped that she was home and it wasn't her mother or father. Her dad still intimidated him to the bone. The talk that man had given him when they went out on their first day was all too memorable:

"_Jade is first and foremost, my pride and joy. I always wanted a daughter, and it was sheer luck that I was blessed with one after my wife had our son, Kendall. The doctors even told us that she was going to be a boy, and they were obviously wrong, thank God. But, you will be careful with her heart. She isn't the type to get attached very easily, but when she does, it's her putting her entire being into it. If you hurt her, I swear to every God in the Universe, so help me, you'll wake up with your body on a cutting board and be served as the night's special. Got it_?"

Although he was almost positive he was on her father's good side, it still gave Beck the shivers to replay it in his memory, even after all this time.

The door finally opened, but it wasn't any member of the West clan who opened it.

"Who the fuck are you?" Beck asked in shock.

A guy that was a little taller than he was stood in the entryway. Maybe if he had a shirt on, things would have been a little better looking. His eyes were an intense shade of green due to the cloudy redness that took over the white surrounding it. He was attractive, but in the back of Beck's mind, his ego was trying to tell him otherwise.

"Woah, bro. No need to be hostile," the guy said with a smile. There was a slight slur in his voice, "Jade, someone's here for you!"

She was just as shocked as Beck was when she came to the door, but not for the same reason, "What are you doing here?"

"We came looking for you after you disappeared during first hour," Beck said, looking all too seriously.

"Wasn't that like, four hours ago?" the guy said.

Jade rolled her eyes, "Just... go inside, Justin. Help Lily find whatever she's looking for."

He shrugged his shoulders and sent a wink towards Beck. Justin disappeared behind Jade in a flash, calling out to Lily in a funny old man accent, "I'll help you find tha butta!"

Jade stepped out of the house and closed the door behind her as pans crashed down to the floor from the Kitchen. She bit her bottom lip and winced. Her father was not going to be happy, but she should have known better than to leave those two alone while stoned.

"Who the fuck are they?" Beck almost yelled. His voice was still too loud, and he earned a strange glare from the two older ladies that walked down the sidewalk in front of her house.

"Remember how I told both of you about my two best friends in Calabasas?" Andre and Beck nodded, "That would be them."

"Jade, that's Justin?" Andre asked wide eyed, "he's hot. You got taste girl."

Beck glared at him.

"I'm gonna go wait in the car..."

He left the couple to work out their problems by themselves. Beck started to talk again, "Why was he shirtless in your house?"

"Because every time he smokes or does some form of drugs, he loses track of his shirt. I don't know how he does it," Jade said with a little smile. "It's not a big deal."

"Yeah. Sure." Beck said, crossing his arms over his chest. He wasn't the type to get mad, but Jade seemed to bring out the worst of him at times. "I'm supposed to be comfortable with this."

"Why wouldn't you be?" Jade asked. "Oh, I forgot. You just started to not trust me. How awesome."

"I do trust you, I just don't trust him," Beck said, waving his hand at the door.

"You don't know him like I do. He knows we're dating, and he respects that."

"Sure he does. Didn't he love you? He probably still does." He muttered the last part to himself so she couldn't hear.

"So? He doesn't still have feelings for me," Jade stated. "Even if he did, I don't give a fuck. I don't want to be with him, I want to be with you. That's why I'm with you instead of him."

"Yeah, that's why you're going against what I asked you not to do. I love how it's such a double standard. I listen to everything you say, tell you everything about my life, but you're allowed to hide things about yourself. It's the greatest shit ever," Beck said, turning to leave down her front steps.

"I'm not doing anything wrong! This is like I invited Cat and Andre over. They're just two of my friends I haven't seen in forever and-"

"That's not what I'm talking about! Besides, I trust Cat because she's the purest girl I've ever met, and Andre would never do anything to hurt either one of us. He's like a giant bear. What I'm talking about, is the fact that you reek of pot," Beck said. "You _know_ how I fucking feel about that shit."

"I didn't smoke any!"

"Yeah, sure. That's believable when you have two people in your house who seemed to be stoned as fuck," Beck huffed.

"That's because I let them smoke, but I stayed out of the loop. I didn't want to because I knew how you felt about that, and I respect you, but _obviously_ you don't trust me enough to believe me, even though I've never done anything wrong," Jade retorted. It was true. She never went against what Beck had asked her too. She was more than loyal when he asked, but he hardly ever did. She was more demanding, more controlling, and he knew that about her. They had a mutual understanding, and she wouldn't think about jeopardizing anything they had.

"Sure..." Beck was still unconvinced.

"You know what..." Jade said with an aggravated smile that showed just how frustrated she really was. She was fighting back every threat and curse that flowed through her head. "I'm going back inside. You keep not trusting me. I don't give a fuck."

Before he could say anything, she was back in the house. He heard the sound of the lock twisting and sliding into place. A part of him was glad. All of his comeback wouldn't have made anything better, even if he had some on his tongue.

He turned and stomped away from her house and over to his car. Andre was standing outside, watching the entire thing unfold from the other side of the car. He locked eyes with Beck and knew it was better not to say anything.

They both got in the car, saying nothing, and Beck took Andre home before going back to his own house...

Jade had her back against the door as soon as she locked it. Her eyes were closed as she repeated the same thing over and over in her head.

_Don't cry. Don't you fucking cry, Jade. You're better than that._

Every time they fought, it scared Jade to death. In reality, she knew it was mainly her fault. She was insecure about so many things in their past. How he would flirt with random girls, just so she would get jealous and prove she still had feelings for him. How he was push her buttons, just to get a reaction.

She was scared that he was going to get tired of her bullshit orders, and her manipulative nature. He was the first person who could actually put up with who she was for more than a few months, and on top of that, he was the first person she didn't get annoyed by within a few days. Justin had a way of bothering her, and maybe that was the reason she didn't want to be officially his... it was all different with Beck.

The bottom line: Beck was Jade's. No matter what they went through, what they were going to go through, no matter what anyone said. They were meant to be.

"Are you okay?" Justin asked, coming back into the hallway.

She wiped away at her eyes. She couldn't tell if she was crying or not, but she felt like she was. This was just a precaution, "I'm fine."

"No you're not. I know you better than that," he said, moving so he was next to her. He let their arms touch, and he looked at her like he always used to.

For a second, it made her heart beat quicken up, but she quickly ignored it. It wasn't the way Beck could make her feel. That meant it wasn't right.

"I just know what's going to happen now. Beck and I are both going to have a stand off and see who could possibly be more stubborn, so I could go days without an apology. It's annoying," Jade said.

"Well, at least you have me and Lily," another bang came from the Kitchen, "or at least you have me. I'm always gonna be here for you, because guess what. I still love you."

Those words shocked her to the core. He walked away after sending her a wink and disappeared into the kitchen.

"Fuck my life..." Jade stated before following him.


	12. After Tori

Just as Jade thought, the next day was filled with ignoring each other, no matter what. He sat away from the usual table, even though Jade didn't show up. She ate her lunch in the hallway with Justin and Lily, attempting to avoid Beck at all costs. Just the sight of him could send her into an emotional whirlpool. She was angry, sad, confused, and she was never going to get used to these fights.

But on the outside, she was the stronger person. A smile here, a laugh there. Nothing looked to phase her.

Beck was the same way. Once he saw that Jade wasn't at his normal spot, he went over and sat with Andre and the gang, sitting right next to Tori. She smiled sweetly at him, but her smile faded when Cat asked Beck about Jade.

"We got into a fight yesterday. It's no big deal. I don't know where she is right now though," he explained while taking a bite out of his burrito.

"A fight? About what?" Tori asked, putting a hand on his shoulder. Cat raised an eyebrow to Andre. She may not have been the sharpest tool in the shed, but when it came to relationships, she knew more than anyone thought.

This was making her all the more suspicious of Tori and her incentives.

"Just stupid stuff that doesn't matter," Beck mumbled.

Before Tori could ask another question, a blonde girl with a smug look came up to their table. Everyone except for the new addition groaned out loud. Beck especially.

"Hello, Beck," she said, pushing her shoulders back so she could make her chest pop up, "where's your bitch? Oh, I meant girlfriend."

"Go away, Jessica," Beck said, not paying her much attention.

"I'll be out of your hair in just a moment. Answer my question."

"I don't know where she is," he played along if it meant she could go away faster.

"Then you should know," Jessica said with a smirk, "She's in the hallway eating with that hot new guy, Justin. Have a great day."

Beck put down his burrito and gathered his things. That pushed him over the edge. He didn't even want to be in school anymore. Listening to everyone talk about this was just annoying. It was like everyone in the world knew his business. Guess that's just Hollywood for you.

He forgot about his classes for the rest of the day, and walked out to the parking lot, ignoring his friend's asking where he was going. They should know where he was going already since he was walking towards the parking lot. He was obviously going home...

Jade walked into her seventh hour, expecting it to be just like her other classes she would have normally had with Beck. They would hold back for as long as they could but then the power of attraction takes over and they just have to look at the other.

But this wasn't going to be like second or fifth hour because Beck didn't show up.

It sort of worried her that he wasn't there. What if something happened?

Just before her common sense could get the better of her, she had her hand up in the air, waiting for Mr. Moosh to notice. When he finally did, she simply asked, "Can I go to the nurse? I don't feel too good."

That was all it took for her to get a free pass out of class. It took us only a few moments to get out to the parking lot and into her car. She found herself driving down to his house against all of her common sense.

She was supposed to be the one waiting for him to come to her. Not the other way around. It was always his fault they got in fights, and it was normally him to apologize, regardless of the topic. She was more stubborn than he was. More demanding, everything with Jade was more.

His old pick up truck was parked in it's usual spot, and a black Charger was on the driveway next to it. She assumed it was his mom's new car since she had mentioned being on the look out for a nice, new sports car.

Jade pulled along the side of the road, making sure she wasn't making too much noise. She didn't know that if he knew she was there, would he have locked the door or ignored her?

Better to find out this way. She walked up to the front of the trailer and quietly opened the door, taking a step inside.

Sadly, to her surprise, Beck wasn't alone in his room. His shirt was completely unbuttoned and hardly hanging on his body. He was laying down on his bed the short way, with a girl covering his body, not to mention his lips. She didn't have a shirt on, and her bra straps were already sliding off.

Jade stood in shock. This was her boyfriend, being basically attacked by this whore also known as Tori.

She didn't know what was going on in her mind. All she could see was white, and all she could feel was rage. She couldn't stop herself as she marched over to his bed and promptly shoved the girl off of Beck.

"You fucking whore!" she yelled. Tori tried her best to look innocent as she jumped off the bed and tried to find her shirt.

Beck stood up in a flash and could hardly form a sentence, "Jade... it's not what it looks like."

"Not what it looks like? It looks like you were just about to have sex with this fucking whore," Jade yelled stepping away from Beck. Every step he took was too close, so she moved away from him. Her eyes were glaring at him, and if she could have castrated him with a look, she would have done it.

"I'd really appreciate it if you didn't keep calling me a whore..." Tori said, pulling her skimpy top onto her slender frame.

"I think you should shut up, Tori. It's for your own safety," Beck tried to tell her with caution.

"Yeah. Fucking stand up for her, you asshole." That was all Jade could say before she left out of the door with Beck hot on her heels. He was trying to reason with her, but that was too late. She saw what she saw, and there's no way he could have possibly changed her mind.

He grabbed a hold of her wrist and pulled her around, "Would you just fucking listen to me, Jade?"

"Why the fuck should I listen to someone who just shattered every fucking hope I ever had of finding someone who was going to love me for everything I was. Everything I could be, regardless of my countless flaws. I trusted you when I should have known better. Want to know why I'm so damn insecure? Because you were with Jessica when you started to try and get with me, who the fuck was going to stop you from doing it again? Sure as fuck wasn't me. I trusted you, and now I'm heartbroken and it's all your fault!" Jade said, ripping her wrist away from his grasp. The tears were falling down her freely now.

"Because I love you," Beck said with a panic. He had never seen her cry, he had to fix this.

She turned around with a sad smile and her make up running, "If this is love, I don't want it anymore."

With that, she was in her car, and driving away.

Beck could just stand there in a sad silence. He couldn't think of anyway to get out of this since he'd been caught red handed. This wasn't his fault though. It was all_ hers_.

"Welllllllllllll, that sucked. It's too bad about your girlfriend finding us," Tori said as she walked up to him.

"There is no us, Tori. I can't fucking believe this shit. How could you have kissed me?" Beck asked, turning on her with a glare.

"You kissed back, darling. You act like you didn't want it," she played on him.

"I didn't want it. I don't want anything to do with you. You just fucked up my entire life." Beck's hand clenched into a fist. He would never hit a girl, and this was how he had to hold back his anger.

"Or I made it better. From what I've seen, Jade's a complete bitch and doesn't care about anything or anyone. She's just mean."

"You don't know her like I do."

"Would you stop defending her like she's listening? She doesn't care anymore, Beck."

"Tori. Get away from me. Go home or go to the mall, or go to hell for all I care. Just fucking leave."

He waked back to the trailer and slammed the door behind him. How could he have been so fucking stupid? Letting her inside his house was the worst mistake ever.

Jade was the first girl he had ever fallen in love with. To make him feel so special, and like there was no other girl who mattered. He loved her, and she loved him...

He cringed when he said loved. She probably hated him now. Thought of him as a horrific poison that just infected her life. This was the worst thing to ever happen to him.

Beck sat upon his bed and broke down. His eyes welled up and for the first time since he was a little kid, he began crying his eyes out.

He lost her, and he couldn't think that he would ever get her back.

He fucked up too bad this time.


	13. After The Kiss

Jade couldn't breathe when she got home. Her eyes were foggy and filled with the tears she wanted to hold back from showing her parents. The last thing she needed was for her dad to be going ape shit over Beck hurting her, and her mother canceling everything she had planned and sit with her until she stopped crying. It wasn't worth the attention.

In and out. In and out. In and out.

She had to close her eyes to concentrate on her breathing because it was so uneven and desperate. She felt like she was going to pass out from the exhaustion. Her mother's car was already in the driveway, so she knew there was one person who she had to manage to avoid for the night.

Her hands moved from the tight grip she had on the steering wheel, to her glove box, trying to find her spare pack of make up remover. It would have been hard to sneak past a mother with mascara and eyeliner dripping down each of her cheeks.

She was surprised at how well her thoughts were processing in her brain, thinking more maturely than she felt she could. She had anticipated not being able to think, wanting to lie in her room with mega shutters blocking out all the sun, and maybe having on an old movie on repeat. Stuffing her face with everything she could think of to eat. Jade was even debating on smoking pot, or doing some form of narcotic that used to make her happy. It may work out this time, too.

After about ten minutes of calming down, she finally took the keys out of the ignition.

The front door was already open, so that made for a smooth walk into the house... in theory. If Molly hadn't noticed the sound of the door sliding over the front mat, she could have been up the stairs already.

"Jade, is that you?" her mother called from the living room.

She sighed, and let out a breath she didn't know she was holding back, "Yeah. I'm home."

"Do you want some dinner or something?" Her mother asked. Jade heard the footsteps start from the living room and start to walk towards her. She needed to start up the stairs before her mom could get a good look at her face.

"No thanks, mom. I had a big lunch, and now I'm really tired so I think I'm gonna crash in my room..." she played off.

"Oh... it's only five thirty though... Is something wrong?" She asked. She could tell something was wrong, but not exactly what. It was her motherly instinct.

"Nope. I just had a long day, and I think it's almost that time of the month." That was always a safe excuse for any girl. The period card can get her out of a load of trouble, even at school.

"Okay, Sweetheart. Goodnight. I love you," her mother said sweetly, giving her a smile.

"I love you too, mommy," it hurt, but she sent a smile back to her mother and headed up to her room, closing the door gently behind her.

She took off all of her clothes, leaving on her bra and instead of wearing her normal underwear, she switched that article of clothing to an old pair of boxers she had bought years ago.

Her feelings weren't making up their minds. She wanted to cry, to scream, to tear apart her room, to wallow in self pity, to write everything she could think of down and send it to the man who was ripping her heart to shreds. Her worst thought was to run back to Beck, tell him absolutely how much he meant to her, and beg him to tell her everything was just a bad dream. She wanted nothing more to talk to him, and force him to comfort her, but she knew that it would be the weakest point in her life if she did.

The phone in the pocket of her discarded jeans was vibrating so hard and constant it looked like her pants had a mind of their own. She didn't doubt it was Beck trying to get her attention.

The free will she used to be able to control so well was gone. She found herself absentmindedly reaching off her bed and grabbing the jeans off the floor. Her heart was beating a mile a minute as she saw how many missed calls and texts she was receiving, and the numbers were still counting; thirty two missed calls, seventeen voice mails, and twenty seven text messages.

She ignored the voice mails and the missed calls, but found her eyes scanning over every text message:

"Jade, please talk to me. Tori kissed me, I had nothing to do with it."

"Baby, I love you. Talk to me."

"You're scaring me, doll. Please. I'm begging you... just answer something..."

"I'll show up at your house if you don't talk to me."

"I need to know what you're thinking."

"Tori's just a friend. I don't like her, I swear on everything we have."

"I love you, Jade. I'm so so so sorry... I need you."

The words hurt her more than anything. How could he sink so low as to tell her that he loved her after all of this? He was a no good, cheating, asshole who just fucked around with everyone's emotions. And to think she thought he was different.

Her make up was running down her cheeks again as she clutched the phone tightly in her hand, rereading every text message over and over again. She didn't know what to do with herself. Her fingers tapped away at her keypad on her phone:

"Come over... I need you..." she hesitated before she pressed send, but she didn't know what else to do.

A reply later, "I'll be there in three minutes."

She knew that she was going to regret calling on him, but she didn't have a choice. Her heart was shattering into a million pieces, and he was one of the only people who could have a chance at fixing it. It really did make her feel a little better that he didn't ask what the problem was, he just knew she needed him.

"Jade?" Her mother gently knocked.

She brought her black comforter up and started scrubbing the make up off her face as she let out a muffled, "yeah?"

"Your dad needs me at the restaurant, is it okay if I leave?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't it be?" Jade asked in a mocked sarcastic tone.

"I was just making sure you were going to be okay by yourself."

"I'll be fine, I promise."

"Okay..." her mother still sounded on edge, "Call me if you need anything."

"Will do."

She listened carefully to her mother's footsteps as they trotted down the stairs and out the front door. Jade heard the lock shut, so that means that she actually had to leave her room to let him in. She found a very comfortable tank top that was all black buried under her comforter.

Molly started barking from down the steps. She must have heard a car pull up because Jade didn't hear anything like a knock or the doorbell.

She took it upon herself to meet him at the door after one quick look in the mirror. She didn't want to let him know that she'd been crying. Too bad, her eyes were already puffy and still had traces of water brimming along her eyelid. Right now, she didn't even care.

All she wanted was for him to hold her, and listen to her talk and complain. It was what she needed.

Her feet bounced down the stairs as her hand slid down the wooden railing. As soon as she touched the last step, the door was being beaten on. She pulled her composure together as she opened the door, glad to see he was alone.

"You rang, my darling?" he questioned with a smirk.

Sadly, his humor wasn't appreciated. Her body went against her and began to shake with uncontrollable sobbing, and without his arms catching her, she would have collapsed from the exhausting pain she was being put through.

* * *

>"It's okay, Jade. I've got you," he whispered, stroking her hair gently. "I'm not going anywhere."<p><p>

Beck sat on his bed in almost utter silence. His fingers couldn't dial fast enough, and his arm would have gotten stronger from every motion it was making; it went up to his ear, down to his leg, up to his ear, down to his leg over thirty dozen times it would seem.

He was desperate to get a hold of her. He couldn't bare not talking to her about this. They always talked everything out, and it would do nothing but make them stronger in the long run. He just needed to get a few words into her mind and everything would be perfect all over again... right?

That was all he could tell himself.

Losing her scared him to death and back. This was nothing he had ever felt before. She was everything he needed, and everything he couldn't imagine he would ever want.

From the way she would punch him if he was being a little bit stupid, the way she would smile at the little jokes only she understood, and the way she made him feel. It was perfect, and that was the only way that he could ever describe it.

Describe **her.**

He had so many plans for the future with her. How their wedding would have gone off without a hitch and just the way she always told him it would go. He could remember with amazing detail exactly what she had said. Not to mention his view of the kids they would have; her gorgeous eyes, his bone structure, and the combination of their personalities would make the greatest babies in the world. They always used to joke about how the earth couldn't handle it.

It made him have a small, sad, smile. But it quickly turned to nothing close to a smile, but the exact opposite. He was mad at Tori. Furious, angry, anything to describe how fucking pissed off this man was at her.

He played the day back in his head as he beat himself up for not seeing the signs.

_I finally pulled into the driveway after almost twenty minutes of straight traffic that clogged every road I was trying to take home. Traffic had to be so much different an hour from when I normally got off school, just because I was in a hurry to get out of public and into the comfort of my own trailer._

_I grabbed the key I always placed on the inside of the thermometer that had been broken for years. It was the perfect hiding place for a key I would have lost on a daily basis if I would have kept it in my possession. _

_The air was cold, just how I always liked it, as soon as I walked in. It would circulate through the trailer and no cold would escape thanks to the bullet proof glass that was over every window. _

_I was just starting to unbutton the shirt I had on from earlier so I could switch into something more comfortable, and debate on what I was going to do for the rest of the night when someone lightly knocked on my door._

"_Who is it?" I called. It couldn't have been my parents or anyone else who would have been in school. Or maybe it was Jade. When no one answered me, I opened the door with a hopeful expression, "Jade? Oh... what're you doing here?"_

"_So, if I was Jade, I would be welcomed a little better?" Tori asked with a smirk. _

"_No... sorry, I was just hoping it would be. What do you need?" I asked, not letting her come inside._

"_Can I know what happened with you and Jade? I'm a good listener, and obviously you're the type of person who holds things in."_

"_And how would you know that?"_

"_Because you haven't told anyone what the problem with you is," Tori tried to bait me. "You haven't told anyone else about what happened."_

"_Because it's none of their business," I explained._

"_Why not? We're like your best friends," She said before she huffed and whined, "it's hot out here. Let me come inside."_

_I said yes, thinking about all the harm it couldn't do, and moved away from the entrance so she could come in. It kind of bothered me how she instantly went to my bed and sat down. Normally I have to invite people, or at least give them permission to sit on my bed, and she just does it. She just found me another pet peeve. _

"_So sit down next to ol' momma Tori and tell me all about it," she said in a mock old lady voice._

_It made me smile, "What was that?"_

"_My grandma voice," Tori said shyly with a smile. I sat down next to her._

"_I like it, do more."_

_But she didn't bother to add an accent to the next thing she said, "Beck. Is Jade really worth all of this?"_

"_What?" I couldn't believe she just had the nerve to say that._

"_She treats you like shit from what I've seen. She's ignoring you right now."_

"_But we're in a fight and we have to have a cool off period."_

"_Couples that are going to work end up talking through this stuff."_

"_You don't know anything about our relationship, stay off it." I said getting defensive. She can't be serious right now._

"_I can't do that if I'm going to be a good friend. I care about you, Beck. You're too amazing for her, and she doesn't deserve you. I think you know that, deep down," Tori said, putting a cool hand against my bare chest. What on God's green Earth was she doing? She started moving her head closer to mine, letting our lips fall in level with each other. Her voice turned dark, and quiet, "You can do better than her."_

_Before I realized what was going on, her hand was pushing me back down against the sheets of my bed, and her lips were crushing down onto mine. I couldn't figure out why she was doing this, but my instinct told me to kiss back and my head was trying to fight it off. Her lips tasted like strawberry. I hated strawberry flavored anything._

_I was just about to push her gently off of me, but I felt the weight shift from over me to next to me, and a screech of a girl echoing in my ear. The screech only one person could have mustered and sound so perfect._

_My girlfriend..._

The memory beat at his head. It hurt to hear the screech echo in his ears all over again, and he couldn't stop from replaying it.

The hurt expression, the agonizing look in her eye, the sound of her heart shattering to the ground.

He felt his eyes burn with the taunting of tears that brimmed under his eyelids. He couldn't believe he could have been that stupid. The girl who meant the world to him, for a girl who was worth nothing at all.

Beck ran his hands through his hair and pulled gently in frustration. Why did he feel like he had to break everything around him? Luckily, he could refrain for the time being. He still had hope for this to all work out. The only problem was that he was dealing with Jade. The most stubborn girl he had ever met.

She wasn't returning anything from him. No matter how much he begged and pleaded, she was ignoring his existence. It hurt so bad... so bad all rational thought was shoved out of his head.

He was grabbing his keys and heading out the door before he could stop himself. He knew exactly where he was going, and as of right now, he had no intention of stopping.

The ride to her house was a giant blur because his adrenaline had kicked in; what would she do if he showed up? Kick him in the shin, kick him in the family jewels, or kill him on sight.

He almost slammed on the breaks down the street from her house. What if... her dad was home? Could she have told him everything? A giant knot slipped down Beck's throat. All the threats flew into his head, along with all of his remorse. His phone vibrated in the seat next to him.

To his horror, it was an update from TheSlap on Jade's relationship status. Jade West is now _Single. _

If he wasn't already dying inside, that did it. His chest started sinking, and he forgot how to breathe. The lights from her house were on, and he was so close. That meant he needed to keep it together for a few more minutes.

To be honest, a part of his feeling was that of pure rage. How could she just change that without him knowing they were broken up.

He turned into her driveway, thinking that this was the last chance he had to leave and ignore trying to talk to her. He hoped that she wouldn't let him in... it would have given him more time to figure out what to say to her, and how to explain all of this to her.

Beck opened the door to his truck and closed it gently behind him, taking a deep breath. Every step felt like an eternity, and before he knew it, his finger was pressing against the faint glow of her doorbell. He pressed twice like he always did, even though it should have tipped her off to not open the door.

Once again, his guard was thrown off by someone else being in the house with Jade. He could taste metal as he watched Jade's expression change from a little happy to horrified and confused. Beck switched his gaze from her to him, glaring as hard as he could, "so this is how you rebound, huh?"

Jade couldn't stop the tears from falling freely down her face. The guy held her tightly as the sobs shook both of them as she tried to control them. His only thought was to drag her to the living room and put her on the couch. He let her arms stay wrapped around his neck in a death grip, while his hands lifted her up bridal style as he carried her and put her on the black, velvet, couch.

She instantly grabbed the top of her knees and held them against her chest as she cried.

Although this was the first time he had seen her at such a low, he knew exactly what to do to cheer her up a little... or at least make her comfortable. He started off by turning the T.V on and searched for something she loved to watch, and the first thing he could find were old reruns of the earlier South Park episodes. Then he grabbed a blanket off the lazy boy recliner and wrapped it around her, before leaving and going into the kitchen and preparing her a single cup of coffee. Black, just how she always used to order it.

He brought it back into the living room and let her hold it when it was still steaming hot. She took a sip, even though the steam was pouring off the top and into the air. Her face showed no sign of flinching or quivering, just the same sad expression as earlier without the tears involved, "Thanks, Justin."

"It's what I'm here for, doll," he sounded so sweet and so sincere. "Now tell your old buddy, old pal, what's going on?"

"Beck..." she couldn't get out anymore than that, and she was already choking up. He put a comforting arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to his chest.

"Do I need to go beat him up?" he asked in all seriousness.

"No..." Jade said. "If anyone was going to do it, it would be me."

"What did he do to you, Jade? I've never seen you like this before, and Lily's never told me about you ever acting this way because of anyone," Justin tried to pick apart her brain.

"I walked into his house... trailer, whatever the hell I'm supposed to call it," Jade said with a frustrated voice. She was trying not to replay the image in her head, but it seems as though it wanted her to see it, "And I see the fabulous Tori Vega on top of my boyfriend with her tongue down his fucking throat."

"I'm gonna kill him," Justin said through clenched teeth. His fist was clenching around the blanket he held over her. Jade grabbed his opposite hand and looked at him.

"Just don't. It won't help anything," Jade whispered.

He could see her hurt expression, and knew it was better to stay off the subject of beating him to a whimpering pulp, "What to know what's going to help?"

She nodded. Anything to take away the pain.

He took out his phone and logged off his account on TheSlap, then handing the phone to her, "Change your relationship status."

Her hand was shaking as she gripped the phone. She almost typed in the wrong password because her fingers were quivering. The curser found it's way to her account settings, and she took one last deep breath before changing from in a relationship, to single. It didn't exactly make her feel better, but it made the hole feel a little smaller.

"Feel better yet?" Justin asked in a low voice, pushing the hair out of her face.

She looked up at him, locking her hazel eyes with his deep green ones. Her heart was rushed with old feelings that hadn't fully gone away yet. She had flashbacks of kissing him in a black light lit room with posters of Bob Marley and weed. The sound of rock pulsating through her ears, and the smokey atmosphere of his bedroom. His hands wandering through her hair as he held himself over her. The awkward giggle that would escape every now and then.

Justin began to lean in... his lips parting slightly, his hand reaching up and cupping her cheek, "I would never do that to you, Jade. I love you like he can't."

His lips were inches away, and he would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for the meddling doorbell.

"What're you talking about?" Jade asked, still having the look of utter confusion on her face.

"Why is he here?" He spat out, changing his attention to her, "I come over here to tell you how much I love you, and how much I care about you, but you're here in skimpy clothes with another guy. I can't believe you're this kind of girl. I let one mistake happen, and you're already looking for someone else."

"Beck... that's not what it looks like..." Jade felt like she had to explain herself. She couldn't figure out what was going on because her mind was foggy enough as it was. From Justin to Beck, from Justin to Beck. It bounced around like it was nobody's business.

"Not what it looks like? You're in your house alone with another guy!" Beck yelled, causing the motion light on the garage to go off.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Justin said from the background. He walked in front of Jade and got too close to Beck, "You just made out with another fucking girl, and Jade needed someone to talk to and since it just so happened to be a man, you're uncomfortable with it. She's been the perfect girlfriend, but you're here yelling at her for doing nothing wrong, when she should be kicking your ass right now."

"You don't know what happened..." Beck said through an agonizing tone. It killed him to see her with him, after she had given up everything they had she went running to him. Of all fucking people.

"I know what Jade told me, and you don't deserve her at all. Go back to your whore," Justin told him.

Beck wasn't focusing on that, he was focusing more on Jade's expressions. She couldn't stop staring at Beck. Those eyes told him that she still loved him... but she didn't want to anymore. It hurt the girl too much, therefore it killed him.

"Jade... I'm so sorry, but you have to listen to me. Tori kissed me, I had absolutely nothing to do with it."

"It takes two pairs of lips to kiss, bro." Justin spoke for Jade, and it was pissing Beck off.

"Why don't you mind your own fucking business?" Beck spat.

"If you're hurting Jade, it's my business." Justin growled, taking another step over the line and into Beck's personal space. He was testing him, pushing him.

"Justin, back off." Jade commanded, finally taking charge of the situation. She was out of her awe moment, and into her natural, controlling nature. He couldn't go against her. "Beck. You have to leave."

"What...?" those words shook his entire world.

"You heard me. I need you to leave. I need time. I need to be away from you for a few days." Jade said in a weak tone. She couldn't look him in the eyes.

"Why?" his tone couldn't help but be hurt over this. She was not only his love, but his best friend. "Jade, I can't do this without you. I need to talk to you about this in private, so you can hear me out."

"No. Not now. Maybe sometime later, just not now." Jade pleaded. Her eyes were brimming with tears all over again.

His gaze shifted to Justin and back to her. It was all because of him, "Fine."

He turned around and walked away from her. All he could tell himself was that she wouldn't leave him because of another guy. He would give her the time she needed, and everything would be perfect. All it would take was a little time...

Jade's heart pulled towards Beck as she watched him walk away and get in the pick up truck. Every part of her body was yelling at her to not let him get away except for her mind. That was the only logical thinker of the day. She knew he needed to leave and give her time to heal.

A hand touched her shoulder gently, "Let's go back inside. We can watch reruns all night."

She didn't say a word, but took the lead and went back inside.

Justin watched her go into the house before he fished in his pocket for his phone, "That went good. I didn't get to punch him though. I believe your idea's working out just fine." he pressed the send button on the text and waited a second for a reply.

"Perfect. I'll see you tomorrow for phase two." Tori texted back with a wink face.

He put the phone back in his pocket with a smirk. Everything was going as planned...


	14. After It Comes Out

_She sunk down onto the front steps of stairs, holding her head between her hands. They found their way into her hair, and buried her fingers into her soft, black, hair. She pulled tightly on her scalp, squeezing her eyes shut with the pain._

_Justin sat next to her, letting their sides touch together. Heat radiated off of him, but she couldn't tell if it was because she was wearing such a tiny amount of clothing, or if it was because she still had feelings for him. She liked how she felt when he was around her, but not like she used to._

_"Don't worry about him. I'll make sure he doesn't keep bothering you," Justin promised her._

_"You don't need to do that." Jade said._

_"But I will if it's going to make you happy," he said, turning towards her, "I just want to see you be happy."_

_Jade rolled her eyes and looked at him, resting her chin on her knees. He had a cheesey smile across his face, showing off his dimples. She smiled a little._

_"There we go!" He laughed, grabbing her cheeks and pinching them playfully._

_"Stop it!" She ordered though a giggle. She locked eyes with him and he stopped. His eyes turned from playful to intense in a matter of seconds. They were deep, and loving, if she saw correctly. _

_He started to lean in again, "Where were we...?"_

_Jade couldn't respond before his lips were gently pressing against her own, with barely any force behind it. Nothing like a kiss Beck would have given her, especially when she was upset. Their lips didn't stay connected for long, as Jade pulled away and stared at the door, giving him no hints to her feelings towards him. If that kiss didn't say anything to her senses, she was an idiot._

_"I think you might want to go..." Jade trailed off._

_Justin was mad. He left without saying a word, and slammed the door behind him on his way out, causing Molly to growl and bark at him though the front window as he left. Jade knew she had hurt him._

_For the second time that night, she began to cry..._

* * *

><p>This was the first day since her beginning year, that Jade was actually nervous about going to school. Dreading it, actually. The back of her mind was telling her to stay home, or this was going to be a horrible day. She would have to sit through all of the girls obsessing over her boyfriend... ex-boyfriend, that is.<p>

She bit her bottom lip as she finished the final touches on her outfit. Her shirt was a simple, gray, crop top that showed off her flat stomach, and a pair of tight fitting, black, skinny jeans. She was debating on wearing her favorite sneakers, or her new black pumps. Her heart said she needed to be the center of Beck's attention, so she opted for the pumps, knowing the hotter she looked, the better she'd feel about all of this.

As she walked down the stairs, her phone started to vibrate. It was a text from Cat: "Tell me when you get here. I need details, missy."

Jade smirked a little. She hadn't realized she skipped over her best friend in the information category. She told Cat everything that happened in her life, because as weird as it seemed to Jade, the girl never got tired of hearing the same thing over and over again. It made her feel happy that she had someone who wouldn't get tired of her, that wasn't a guy.

"I'm leaving my house now. I'll see you soon," she replied quickly. She patted Molly on the head as she left, knowing her mother was still asleep. There was no need to wake her up.

It wasn't long before Jade arrived at school. A good fifteen minutes before the bell, so she was going to have plenty of time to talk to Cat about her break up. She cringed at the thought. It still hurt to tell herself that Beck was no longer her's. She still had the feeling of her eyes welling up with tears as she pulled into the closest parking spot she found.

She let out a deep breath and her eyes closed. "You're going to be fine," she whispered to herself.

Then someone knocked on her passenger side window. It scared her, and she let out a small scream. Her eyes found Cat's as she leaned over and peered in the window. She had her normal dazed expression on, but there was a slight eager look about her.

Jade's hand pressed the unlock button, and Cat slid in. Her door wasn't even closed before she started asking questions, "Are you okay? What happened? Did Beck do it or did you do it? Oh my God. What happened?"

"I'm fine..." Jade lied, looking down at her finger nails, picking at the black paint.

"Nope. You're just a liar," Cat said. "Now, spill. I need to know if we hate Beck."

"Oh yeah, we hate Beck," Jade said, repositioning herself to face Cat. She explained everything that happened, even adding the parts with Justin to get her every detail. Her mind found comfort in Cat. The girl had never let a secret spill, even though she was often clumsy with words, and she gave amazing advice on any subject Jade had a problem with.

She looked at Cat like this: she was common sense smart, but not so much book smart.

"Do you still have feelings for Justin?" Cat asked cautiously.

"I don't know. I don't even want to think about my relationship status with anyone," Jade said in a quiet tone, "I'm too busy trying to not think about Beck. As of right now, Justin is just in the friend zone."

Cat giggled, "Justin is _Just-In_. Hahaha, it's funny. But I think you need to talk to Beck."

"Why?" Jade asked wide eyed.

"Because you never really got to hear his side of the story, just what you saw."

"Sorry, but seeing a girl on top of my almost shirtless boyfriend in a lip lock kind of seals the deal for me," Jade retorted with attitude.

"But what if she really did kiss him first, and he just didn't know what was going on until you walked in. I mean, that's happened to people before," she gently pressed on the subject.

"Stop being logical, I'm mad at him," Jade wined. Cat was too good at making sense of situations Jade already planned out.

"Just talk to him," Cat said as the bell rang in the background.

Jade rolled her eyes as they both got out of her car. They continued arguing back and forth until they got into the building when Cat decided to let Jade continue to be stubborn. They parted when the minute bell rang, Jade going on her way to English, and Cat on her way to her Stage Costume class...

* * *

><p>Cat was roaming through the upper levels of the school on her way to class. She was late, as usual. Today would be a little different though.<p>

As she got to the final corner of the hallway, she overheard two different voices discussing something involving her best friend.

"I can't fucking believe this," a girl stated. It was a voice that Cat couldn't recognize yet, meaning it was probably someone she hadn't talked to before.

"Stop getting mad at me. I've almost got her back," a boy said.

"Got her back? You probably just crushed her life into little pieces!" The girl yelled, and was instantly shushed.

"I'm going to fix it though," he defended. The voice had to have belonged to Justin.

"No you won't. She's not the same girl you used to know, Justin. You're being stupid."

"Lily, you just don't see it like I do," he said. "She's still Jade. She won't ever change."

"She's already changed! Beck is the total opposite of you, idiot. She was perfectly happy, then you had to go and do this stupid plan with that bitchy girl-"

"Tori. Her name's Tori."

"What the fuck ever! You're ruining Jade's life, and you know it. Stop being such a douche bag."

"Would you stop calling me names? Fuck."

"No. Not until you fix it. I still care about Jade, and you shouldn't keep trying to get her back if she already got over you."

"She's not over me..." he trailed off, talking more to himself than to her. "She kissed me back."

Cat let out a mini-gasp. Jade had left out that part in her details this morning.

"It's a reflex, Justin. She's over you, and you need to accept that. She was happy with this guy, and if there was anything you've ever learned about Jade, you should know that she's a stubborn, hard headed, girl with an attitude. Do you really think she's going to let him back into her heart now? He was her world, and you just forced her to fly off into space!"

"That made almost no sense, Lily." He said after a minute of thought. "I don't care what you say though. You're not in my shoes. You don't love someone who doesn't love you back."

"Because I'm not an idiot. I know how to get over people, unlike you."

"This doesn't make me an idiot. It makes me human," he said.

That was the last thing Cat heard before footsteps started to walk down the hallway towards her. She almost panicked, but remembered to stay cool about it, before she walked towards the footsteps. They belonged to Justin, who paid no mind to the red head.

Lily stood with her back against the locker, deep in thought. Cat took the initial action, "Hi hi."

It knocked the girl out of her trance, "Um... hey?"

"I'm Cat, one of Jade's friends, and you're Lily." She said in a cheerful tone.

"That I am..." she was nervous, "nice to meet you, but I've gotta-"

"I heard it." Cat blurted out. Lily's eyes shot to her, "The conversation, that is."

Lily looked down, "Yeah. I'm sure you already know the other details."

"I do. Jade caught Beck and Tori kissing, Jade dumped Beck, Jade had a talk with Justin, Justin and Beck almost fought, all of that other stuff, but I have a feeling you know something more," Cat said, doing her little lean with her hands crossed in front of her.

"Jade needs to know this, too." Lily said, pushing herself off the lockers. "I might as well tell you together."

She took out her phone and texted away, telling Cat exactly what she was saying, "Met Cat. Need to talk. Cut out of class. Meet up the stairs."

"But do you really think she'll-"

Lily cut Cat off before she could ask, "I'm pretty sure Jade's still able to pull off that fake sick routine pretty well. She should be here in no time."

Sure enough, a minute or two later, Jade was walking up the stairs and into Cat's view. She waved quickly with her happy expression, "Hi hi."

"Hey, Cat. Why was I talked out of staying in class?" Jade asked, crossing her arms and raising her eyebrow at the two new friends.

"I need to tell you something, that's probably gonna piss you off. At least finding it out would piss me off..." Lily said to herself, "Anyway, Justin told me that he made friends with that girl, Tori."

Jade's jaw tightened and her eyes turned into daggers, "he's_ what?_"

Lily moved cautiously closer to Cat, who was hardly paying attention. Lily kept talking, "he's friends with Tori, but that's not all. He kind of had this plan, to get you and Beck to break up so he could have another chance at being with you, because he still 'loves' you." She used air quotes to surround the word love.

"Why'd you go..." Cat mimicked her fingers, "'love'?"

"Because I really don't think he loves Jade anymore. I think he loves the idea of her, and how she used to be," Lily said before she changed her gaze to Jade, "you really have changed since you've been here, and obviously it's been for the better. I'm not going to let Justin ruin your life. You were happy with Beck, and I saw that."

It gave Jade a warm feeling in the pit of her stomach to hear Lily talk like that. She wasn't one for sentimental words, but she did have her moments. They always tended to impact Jade's life a little more every time she heard them.

"Anyway, what'd he do that was so horrible?" Cat asked.

"Tori came up with this idea to have her kiss Beck, regardless of if you saw or not, because it would make you break up with him, then both of you would be single. She would get Beck, you would get Justin as a rebound," Lily explained to them. "I would have stopped it if I knew before hand, and I didn't. He literally just told me when Cat over heard."

"So it was all a set up?" Jade asked for clarification. Lily nodded her head.

"Why would he do that!" Cat yelled, getting shushed by Jade and Lily. She must have forgot that they were in a hallway in the middle of class.

"Because they wanted to break us up," Jade said. This was the last straw in the dispenser. Her hate list just added two new members.

"I don't like that look you're giving off there, Mrs. Radical Thinker," Lily warned. "I _know_ that much hasn't changed."

"Just wait for lunch," Jade said as she let out a breath. "People are gonna get what they deserve."


	15. After Coffee

"Attention, Asphalt Cafe," Lane, the guidance counselor, called out to the students from the roof, "This Friday night will be the Showcase for the following students: Beck Oliver, Andre Harris, Cat Valentine, Kendall Marshall, Tori Vega, Stefanie Buca, Paula Green, and Jade West. Have your songs ready for Friday night, which is two days from now, in case you needed to know."

Beck shoved another bite of his lunch into his mouth. It was hard to swallow, because he just wasn't hungry. He hardly ate anything since a day ago. His appetite was just gone, but he knew he had to eat or he'd feel even worse than before.

Andre came over to his table and sat down next to Beck, "hey man."

Beck returned the hello with a head nod, hardly acknowledging his existence.

It confused his best friend, "You okay?"

"No." Beck stated simply.

"Tell me what's going on," Andre said with serious interest. He couldn't imagine what would be getting his friend, who was bothered by almost nothing, in this mood.

He told Andre everything. From Tori kissing him, to the break up, to Justin being in Jade's house. Everything that was on his mind, and he was glad for a moment that he could actually get it all out in the open, instead of holding it all in.

Andre was in shock. How could all of that happen in a matter of two days? "So you and Jade are over?"

"She wants us to be..." Beck said, showing how hurt he really was for a split second, but quickly regained his composure. They were in public after all, "I don't know what I'm supposed to do."

"You're not going to give up," Andre said with a smirk, "I know you too well, man. You love this girl, and I know she loves you more than anything. You're going to have to get her back."

"How do you suggest I do that? As of right now, she won't even talk to me," he said as he picked up a fry and shoved it in his mouth.

"With music," Andre said.

"That's your answer for everything," Beck rolled his eyes.

"Because it's the answer for everything, just like violence isn't the answer for everything." Andre said, trying to be funny and get a simple smile from the man. It wasn't much use. "I could come up with a better analogy, if you want."

"It's fine, man. I'm sorry. I just... I don't even know."

"I think you should write her a song, and sing it at the Showcase," Andre said.

"I can't do that. You already know how I am about how I feel. I keep everything in, and it's been working just fine for me."

"Yeah, but if you want the girl back, you're going to need to put some more effort into it instead of just sitting here and killing your heart," Andre said, "not to mention having your food get cold."

Beck looked down at his lunch, completely forgetting it was even food. He took it and threw it away in the trash can that was close to his left side. Andre's jaw dropped when he tossed it away, "Why did you do that? I enjoy french fries."

"Feel free to dig them out," Beck said with a smirk. He took a sip of his water when he saw her. He felt his heart jump up into his throat as he placed the water bottle down before his nerves made him crush it. Andre turned and looked in the same direction, waving at Cat who was following her. Jade kept walking, and Cat went over to Andre.

"Hi hi," Cat said, throwing her backpack onto the table.

"What's up, little red?" Andre asked with a smile.

She smiled back and gave him a quick hug, "nothing much with my brother gone."

"Where'd he go?"

"He went to this place called an Asylum. I heard they have these cool padded walls. I wish I could go, but my brother gets all the good stuff," she explained with a sigh. Andre looked at her confused, but knew it was better to not ask anything more. Her attention turned to Beck. "How're you?"

"How do you think?" He was back to being bummed.

"Well... maybe that would make you feel better," Cat said, pointing behind him.

Beck turned around just in time. A splash of hot coffee landed on Justin's face, and an angry voice over took his screams of pain.

"You're the scum of the earth. I can't believe you lack any morals at all. You're a dumb, fucking, asshole. How could you possibly think you could get away with this?" Jade yelled at him, loving every moment of the man trying desperately to rid his eyes of the burning liquid. "I came to you because I had no one else to turn to, and now I find out exactly what happened. If you really cared about me, you wouldn't have let me be happy."

Justin was speechless as Jade's fit of rage subsided. She didn't want to stand there and have him try to explain himself, so she left him in the middle of the Asphalt Cafe, a few of his friends trying hard not to laugh, one or two actually trying to help him.

Jade saw Lily out of the corner of her eye. The girl was leaning against the food truck, a smirk on her face. She couldn't have been more proud of Jade.

"Cat!" Jade yelled as she walked past the table, not paying any attention to Beck.

"I'm coming!" Cat said, grabbing her things and waving goodbye to the boys before Jade got too upset with her.

"She didn't even say goodbye to you..." Andre pointed out.

"Yeah. Thanks, Captain Obvious. What would I do without you?" Beck asked grabbing his stuff. He needed to work on his song for the Showcase, and he was actually debating on writing his own.

* * *

>"You're welcome, Sargent Sarcastic!" Andre called out to him before he was out of ear shot.<p><p>

"I'm going to need your help," Jade told him.

Sinjin stood in the closet with Cat and Jade basically holding him hostage.

"I don't know how I feel about this... you're asking me to rig something this massive, and I could get in some serious trouble," Sinjin said.

"What do I have to do to get you to say you'll do it?" Jade asked, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms over her chest.

"How about you give me a kiss...?" Sinjin smirked and gave her a seductive look. He took a step towards the girls.

"If you take another step towards me, your testicles will be ripped off in the most painful way you could even imagine." Jade threatened.

"How painful..." he questioned.

"Let's just say it'll involve a very cold, metal pole." She told him in a threatening tone.

He winced and grabbed at his crotch, closing one of his eyes and letting out a breath, "I'd rather keep my balls, thank you. I'll help you."

"I'm glad," Jade said with a smirk, "You'll need to rig it for eight thirty, that's when she goes on. I'll do my part at the same time."

"Okay. I just need the sound tracks."

"I'll have it for you!" Cat said, playing with her hair. "It's really vindictive, but I'll love to help."

"Vindictive? Good word," Sinjin pointed out.

Jade rolled her eyes and grabbed Cat's hand, dragging her out of the room. Her timing was impeccable. She opened the door and ran straight into the love of her life.


	16. After Endlessly

Beck was absentmindedly coming up with rhyming lyrics in his head. He still wasn't sure if doing an original, and most likely shitty song, would be the best thing to do at the showcase. He was never one to pour his heart out, let alone do it in the middle of a stage with burning spot lights shining down on him, and hundreds of people staring at him.

She was the only one to ever see him actually express how he was feeling, whether it was a simple note in her locker before lunch, or some sweet nothings as they laid in bed together after a long day. She was his best friend, and he had lost her.

He whipped out his phone and began to save the words that flew through his mind onto his drafts, not caring about the stares he was sure to be receiving, not even about the door that was about to open and the girl that was about to stumble into him.

Luckily for him, his reflexes had managed to quicken over the years. His arms found their way around her waist, keeping her from falling to the floor. She let out a quiet "oof" before regaining her composure just enough to look at him. Her eyes jolted open, as she stumbled to her feet. His arms didn't unlock from her hips. They stood only inches away from each other.

He finally got the nerve to say something to her, "we've got to stop meeting like this."

Jade's eyebrow rose, and a smirk played across her lips, "that was really the only thing you could come up with?"

Beck panicked and couldn't control the words that began pouring out of his mouth, "I'm sorry. For everything. If you'd just let me explain-"

"Don't start this now," Jade said, fully together, unlike her male counterpart, "you already know we're going to start yelling, and I don't want people in our business. I saw what I saw, and I know what I know. You're going to have to give me time, and that time is neither here or now."

"But I can't do this, Jade. I need you," he whispered to her, causing her eyes to move away from his. Her hands landed on his, and took them off her hips gently.

"I'm sorry," Jade said, turning away from him and grabbing Cat by the wrist, dragging her down the hallway. She couldn't handle this either. How could he think this was easy for her?

"Are you okay?" Cat asked cautiously.

Jade did nothing but nod in agreement. She couldn't find the words to tell him anything because she still didn't know. Regardless of if it was all set up, she still saw him kissing another girl. One of the first girls to actually make her feel her self esteem drop. The thought of him kissing anyone but her made her heart sink a little deeper into her chest.

She still couldn't figure out if she wanted Beck back. This went against her trust of him. What if this was just some cover? What if he really did want to kiss Tori? They were sure as hell into the kiss when she arrived. It would have made Justin a double agent, but Jade didn't know Justin anymore, and neither did Lily.

The image played in Jade's head all over again. So many questions, and new insecurities.

Beck couldn't understand what she was feeling, because she didn't know either.

* * *

><p>Jade sat in the dressing room she was sharing with her best friends, with Cat by her side and Andre in the corner, strumming along to the melody that was playing in his head as he mouthed the words that were playing in his head.<p>

Cat giggled as she copied every move Andre was making, not too worried about the events of tonight. She had already seen the order of the acts, and she was right after Andre, and before Tori. It always amazed Jade that she could stay so calm in the midst of everything. There were going to be hundreds of people out in the audience, and Cat wasn't even nervous.

Jade on the other hand had butterflies, more for her revenge than anything else. She knew her song by heart, every note, ever lyric, ever emotion. There wasn't a doubt in her mind that she was going to sing her lungs out on that stage tonight... she just hoped that he was listening.

According to the sheet, Jade's place in the line up was only one person after Beck's performance, which could have added a thousand more butterflies to her stomach and chest. Her throat had a knot in it that must have been the size of a grapefruit.

Lane's voice came over the intercom, "Andre Harris, you're up. Cat Valentine and Tori Vega, please find your microphones and get ready."

"Wish us luck," Cat said in her normally cheerful voice as Andre got up.

"The best of luck, darling," Jade said in a British accent, causing Cat to giggle and Andre to smile for the first time since he got into the room. She could feel how nervous he was, and asked him to hold back while Cat ran on ahead, literally. "Are you okay?"

"My uncle got someone from Universal Music to come here and look at me. That's one of the biggest names in music to date. I'm just... what if it's like all the other times people show up and don't like what I'm doing?" Andre asked, and Jade could feel his heartbreak.

"It's not like that this time," she spoke words of reassurance, "those were little record labels that were looking for someone they could write songs for and mold to fit what they thought was music. Big labels like this are looking for something different, and something original, and last time I checked, you're more than original."

"I guess..."

"You shouldn't guess, you should know."

Andre gave her a small smile, "I'm glad I'm on your good side. I don't know what I would do without your words of wisdom."

"Cry in a corner?" Jade asked with a smirk.

"And the happy moment's over," Andre rolled his eyes and exited the room with Jade laughing in the background. She had too much faith in that man. He was going to do just fine.

Her attention turned back to the mirror, doing a quick check on her make up and hair. Her time to act was coming up soon, and she needed to be in the right place to put the plan into action. Perfection was what she thought she looked like, which caused a smile to come across her face.

Before she stopped, a light knock was placed on her door. The mirror's reflection showed her a man with an ugly, navy blue, jumpsuit on, carrying a dozen snapdragons. Her favorite flowers, "Jade West?"

"That's me..." She said, confused. The man came into the room and handed her the flowers, just asking for a signature before he left her alone with a vase full of purple flowers. A card was attached to the top:

"I hope you know, I mean every word. Love, Beck."

Her gaze dropped as she bit her lip. This asshole was about to ruin her make up.

She set down the vase gently, making sure it was safe among the clutter of Andre and Cat's belongings. The card went back into place easily. She made sure it was a good distance away from the water that clouded the water towards the bottom of the steams before she left the room.

* * *

><p>Tori looked out onto the stage as Cat continued to sing. She had her headset on, and was testing her pitch in her head, ignoring everything that wasn't her voice.<p>

Sinjin looked down from his soundboard, and awaited his signal as Cat's song came to an end. She received a very enthusiastic applause, with some people standing up to clap. The red head waved at the crowd and blew a kiss, smiling to everyone as she skipped off stage.

Lane approached, "Now, introducing Tori Vega."

The crowd applauded politely as she walked on the stage, waving at everyone, making sure her dress didn't ride up higher than it already was. Her skimpy, shimmery, outfit was almost blinding from the spotlights, causing Sinjin's eyes to water.

He was more than happy when her music started for a split second, and the power seemed to shut off. Only three people knew what was actually going on.

"Why isn't my mic on? What's happening?" Tori yelled to the side of the stage. No one could give her an answer, to her disliking.

A video started to play in the back ground of the stage, with a voice she couldn't locate started to do a mic check, "hello?"

"Who is that!" Tori yelled.

"Oh. Hello," the video clicked on, showing Tori in the bathroom. Everyone saw the surprise on her face when the voice that came over the speaker sounded almost exactly like Tori's, "I'm Tori Vega, and I'm obviously popping my pimple."

The video showed her picking at the side of her nose, squeezing and using her nail to chip it away. The real Tori was still on stage, screaming in embarrassment as the crowd laughed behind her.

"In the next video I wanted to show you of myself, is an accident I had last week in gym class," the voice over said. The clip shifted to a picture of Tori pulling on her short shorts to go outside, a pad hanging out of her thighs. There were gagging noises in the audience, and girls were laughing. You could see her cheeks flare up even without the spotlight.

She screamed at someone to stop it, but no one could hear anything over the cries of laughter and disgust. The horrified girl ran away from the stage, as Sinjin brought the lights back up, and Lane ran out onto the stage, trying to get the people's attention.

"Um... so there was a bit of a technical difficulty, or so it seems," he tried to play off, "but without further a due, please welcome, Beck Oliver."

The girls began to scream with excitement, and the boys applauded. Beck walked out and sat upon the stool that had been set up for him, an acoustic guitar in his hands, "What's up? I'm Beck, and this is a song I just wrote a few days ago... it goes out to someone special, and I just hope that you're listening."

Jade walked into the wing, next to Sinjin and a still giggling Cat. Sinjin leaned over, "I think he's singing to you."

She didn't comment back. Her eyes were following his hand as it moved up and down the strings gently, and Andre played the piano lightly in the background. Beck's words fell straight from his lips and into Jade's heart:

"_She is my rock and my rolling thunder, I've been the spell she was under, I... I love that girl. She is my cigarettes and champagne, she's got me strung, but I'm not running, I love that girl,_" his eyes closed before he sang more. Jade could see the pain that was coursing through him, even if it looked like an act to any passerby, "_She is the days I can't get over, she is the nights that I call home, endlessly. For you I'll always wait, caught in the waves of hesitation, lost in the sea of my own doubt, endlessly. For you I'll always wait._

"_She is the flame and the fire, she's raging. I've been the spark in the war she's waging, I... I love that girl. She came along, and she spoke so sweetly. Changed everything, took my heart completely, I love that girl._"

Andre started to sing the chorus in the background of Beck singing the bridge, his hand moving faster, "_And the city bars, and empty cars. It's three A.M and I wonder where you are. And the crooked smiles and worn out miles between us, now I wonder where you are. She is the days I can't get over, she is the nights that I call home. Endlessly. For you I'll always wait. For you, I'll always wait... endlessly._"

His hand stopped moving, and the tears on her face started falling, "Give me a microphone."

"I can't just give you a microphone-"

"Sinjin!" She snapped. He quickly handed it to her as she watched Beck get up from his stool and began to walk off stage. Her last prayer was that her mic was on.

She waked on stage and began to sing, "_I wanna make you smile, whenever you're sad. Carry you around when your arthritis is bad. All I wanna do, is grow old with you."_

Beck spun around in shock, watching Jade sing to him, like they were the only ones in the area. His heart beat was pounding through his chest as the words sunk in.

"_I'll get you medicine when your tummy aches, build you a fire if the furnace breaks. Oh it could be so nice growing old with you_," she sang with a tearful smile, walking closer to Beck, who was following her lead. He set down his guitar and began to walk to center stage again, grabbing the microphone off the stand as she kept going, "I'll miss you, kiss you, give you my coat when you are cold. Need you, Feed you. Even let you hold the remote control."

Beck began to sing at the chorus, "_So let me do the dishes in our kitchen sink, put you to bed when you have too much to drink. Oh I could be the man who grows old with you_."

They started to sing together, with genuine smiles on their faces now, "_I'll miss you, kiss you, take your shoes off and rub your feet. Need you, feed you. And when we play checkers, I'll let you cheat. So let me do the dishes in our kitchen sink, put you to bed when you've had too much to drink. Oh, it would be so nice, growing old with you. I wanna grow old with you_."

Applause irrupted in the background, but it didn't bother either one of them. They were too busy rushing into the others arms, his hands wrapping around her shoulders, and her own hands snaking around his waist, holding him as if she couldn't get close enough. His lips pressed against her forehead, as his arms tightened around her.

"I'm so sorry," Beck told her in a mumble. He was too busy basking in the scent of her vanilla shampoo that he missed so much.

"Don't be sorry. Just be mine," She told him, digging her nails into his back one last time before pulling away slightly to get a good look at his smiling, yet shocked face.

"On one condition," Beck hinted, and she looked at him with confusion, "_Will you sing at my wedding_?"

She pushed him away a little with a laugh and a roll of her eyes. Jade didn't get very far away from him before he pulled her back against his body, and landing his lips on her own.

How he missed her.

How she missed him.

**How everything was back to normal.**

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>That would be _the end_! I may add a chapter later or so involving how they're doing, but that'll be a while, lol. I love this fandom now. Beck and Jade are so cute. I think I write Jade quite well.

The song Beck sang_: Endlessly by Green River Ordinance_;

The song Jade sang: _I Wanna Grown Old With You from The Wedding Singer Musical_ (as stated in a previous chapter.)

I hoped you liked it! (: Thanks so much for your reviews! Keep a look out for This Isn't Happening, and some other stories. They'll almost all revolve around T and M thought, just so you know. Keep Reading and Reviewing! I love you all!

**One more time? VVV**


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